Immortal Warrior
by thebestofall
Summary: Percy Jackson was born in the year 500 B.C. instead of the 20th century. Being more than two thousand years old, there isn't much that Percy hasn't done or faced. A new mysterious villain appears, aiding the resurrection of Kronos, though he seems to have his own agenda and an interest in Percy. Ancient Percy. OP Percy, and...Please give REVIEWS! Eventual Percy/Artemis.
1. Prologue

( _Sparta, 500 B.C._ )

A young woman in her late twenties, wearing nothing but a silky chiton, ran through the woods, carrying a small blue bundle in her arms.

She could hear the enraged shouts behind her grow louder as her pursuers got closer. She gave it all she had, for the sake of the little blue bundle in her arms. She ran for the sake of her newborn son.

She ran towards the shores, towards the domain of her lover. Then he could protect her and her child.

But when she appeared on the shores, it was too late. A zip and an arrow sailed through the air, avoiding all branches and obstacles, miraculously avoiding the little birds, and landed right on target.

The young woman had no time to even register her pain as the arrow passed clean through her skull.

The blue bundle slipped out of her arms and as it fell, the newborn son fell into the shallow waters of the Aegean. But no sooner had the men closed in on the boy, the tides rose, sweeping the baby away from the shores.

The men clothed in black leather grunted and groaned. They had failed their mission. They failed to kill the son of Poseidon.

* * *

( _460 B.C._ )

The baby boy, now grown up, swung his swords hard against the wooden dummy, taking it's head clean off.

A bearded centaur watched from the sidelines of the training arena, smirking as the wooden dummy was destroyed. "And how has the wooden dummy offended the great Perseus?"

The man (Perseus), smiled, hearing his mentor's voice. "Chiron! You're back.". Perseus sheathed his swords behind his back.

Chiron smiled. "I see you're dual wielding now."

"I perfected the three sixty defines you've told me. It works."

Chiron smiled. That was the most precious move he could ever teach. Being a centaur, he couldn't do it himself, but he'd seen Perseus use it. It was as the name suggested. A form of combat wherein a warrior could engage enemies even if he was surrounded. That sometimes meant taking on several dozen men at once.

Most regular humans could never achieve such a feat, but Perseus wasn't a regular human. He was the son of Poseidon himself and the power of the oceans flowed through his veins, making him more powerful than anyone could have ever imagined.

He wasn't any regular demigod either. A child of the big three, trained by Chiron in his early years and later on he was trained by Athena in the arts of combat and military strategies. He soared ahead of normal capabilities and his intellect rivalled Athena's own.

Basically, you do not want to face him in battle. A ruthless warrior, who learned to fight dirty if the need arose. He learned to mind his surroundings and to use it to his advantages.

His used his powers given by his father. This, he had to learn on his own, since Poseidon rarely visited. He honed it to the point where he could use it as a weapon or for healing.

With the power over water came an ability most demigods already have. The power to control the mist. He learned to use it to create illusions and to distract opponents he knew he couldn't beat.

When Zeus learned of Perseus, he first wanted to strike him down. But he realised two things. One, Poseidon would be enraged, and frankly, Zeus didn't need that. Contrary to popular belief, Zeus was only slightly more powerful than his brother. Secondly, he needed someone like Perseus. Someone who could interfere anywhere and anytime, without breaking the ancient laws and upsetting the fates. So when Perseus turned nineteen, he made him half immortal, just like Artemis's hunters, but gave him a little more power.

The one odd thing was that he belonged to no city-state. He never really learned his mother's name or where he was from. All he knew was that as a newborn, he was washed ashore just a few hundred miles from the foothills of Mt. Olympus.

There, he was found by Chiron, the trainer of heroes, and you know how that story goes.

He didn't step foot in most cities unless it was for an assignment. He did have a small addiction to having gods owe him. He would do assignments for some gods, especially Hades, and when the time would come, he could call on them for any help.

Most favours were borderline insane, going from assassinations to sabotaging weapons of gods. At one point, Hermes used him as a vessel, his essence entering his body so that the god could watch as Perseus spied on Artemis and her hunters while they bathed. Needless to say, Hermes respected him from then on. Only the maddest of men would dare try something like that.

Perseus suspected Hermes had something to do with that though. He was never particularly good at being stealthy, but from then on, he was the best of the best.

Now, Perseus owned a small palace near the foothills of Mt. Olympus, complete with a training yard and a way towards the lake. An archery range was there, but it was useless. None of his shots hit the target. Perseus started to fear, thinking that maybe he wasn't as stealthy as he thought when he spied on the goddess of hunters.

But he was never confronted about it and Perseus didn't bother worrying himself much for that.

Most of his fun included screwing around with Apollo or performing some rather stupid activities with Hermes.

But with friends came a list of unfriendliness. Ares, for starters, hated his guts. The war god butted heads with him more times than he could count. Dionysus wasn't much of an enemy but more of a frenemy. He wasn't sure what he felt towards Aphrodite and Hercules was his absolute worst enemy. The son of Zeus was far too arrogant for his taste, and also a bit of a snob.

Speaking of enemies, one had just appeared in front of him. Perseus sighed as the war god began to pompously announce the fact that Zeus was summoning him.

Sighing, Perseus dropped wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and walked inside his quarters, preparing to meet the big man up the hill. Hopefully this time he wouldn't have to shadow some demigod on his mission.

* * *

( _Hades' Palace, The Underworld, 2017 A.D._ )

Perseus stood casually in front of the Lord of the Dead and his wife, watching as Persephone glowered at her husband.

Hades looked a little nervous. "They aren't new! I swear!"

Persephone didn't look convinced. "Whatever. I'm off."

In a flash of gold, she disappeared, leaving a relieved King of the Underworld. "Phew. She's gone. Now Perseus, do you remember the task?"

Perseus nodded. "Yeah. Get the kids here and keep their father's identity a secret ... but Persephone knows, so how can it be a secret if three people already-" He stopped, noticing the deadpan stare he was getting from the god.

"Fine. I'll get them. But I want that credit card you told me about. And that phone."

Hades grumbled. "Kids these days."

Perseus frowned. "Hey! I resent that."

Hades rolled his eyes. "Fine. Go."

With a snap of his fingers, Hades teleported Perseus out of the place.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

 **Please review and tell me how it is. I know this plot has been done a gazillion times, but just give it a shot. I'm trying to make this Percy less dark, and his character more like the books, except that he's not innocent. (spying on the hunters, etc.)**

 **Also. Pairing please?**

 **Annabeth or Thalia or anybody. Literally anyone.**

 **But no Nico or Apollo, etc. Please don't make Percy gay.**

 **I've got nothing against gay people, but I feel uncomfortable writing about gay stuff. Trust me, I tried.**


	2. Perfect Timing

**Oh, by the way, I changed the ages of some demigods to fit the story.**

 **Luke is 19, Thalia is 15 (as is in the books) but Annabeth is 17. I can't have a fourteen year old Annabeth with a nineteen looking Percy. He's not a** **pedo!**

* * *

 _Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _In a flash of gold, she disappeared, leaving a relieved King of the Underworld. "Phew. She's gone. Now Perseus, do you remember the task?"_

 _Perseus nodded. "Yeah. Get the kids here and keep their father's identity a secret ... but Persephone knows, so how can it be a secret if three people already-" He stopped, noticing the deadpan stare he was getting from the god._

 _"Fine. I'll get them. But I want that credit card you told me about. And that phone."_

 _Hades grumbled. "Kids these days."_

 _Perseus frowned. "Hey! I resent that."_

 _Hades rolled his eyes. "Fine. Go."_

 _With a snap of his fingers, Hades teleported Perseus out of the place._

* * *

Perseus landed back in his apartment. He immediately started getting ready for the task.

He groaned as he strapped up his twin swords behind his back and attached the belt of throwing stars. Sometimes he envied the gods. Armour and weapons magically appeared on their person.

He grabbed two gauntlets, which were inspired by the assassins of the medieval ages. It had retracting hidden blades and could shoot poisoned darts. Quite handy.

To his right side of his waist, he kept an old pistol which was filled with a mixture of celestial bronze and regular bullets. He didn't have a hood or anything, so he supposed that a mask would do. At least until he got clear of the city.

He went to the basement of the place, where he kept his magical motorcycle. A gift from Hermes. The bike was tied to his life force. As long as he lived, it would work. Any damage done to him would damage the bike and when he would get healed, the bike would also be back to pristine condition. Fortunately, it didn't work the other way around.

Getting on the bike, he headed off for Maine, to a certain military boarding school where Hades stashed his kids.

* * *

Annabeth sat in the shotgun seat, while Luke drove the stolen car. Thalia sat in the back, playing with her mace canister and fiddling with her watch.

They'd gotten a call from Grover. It was something urgent. He had seemed real panicky about the situation and he demanded that the three of them got their asses there immediately.

Thalia wondered what happened. If Grover cussed like that then something was seriously wrong. Just as she was wondering when they'd get there, she heard Luke say they were there. She wiped the fog from the car window and stared outside.

Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking a big frosty forest on one side and the gray churning ocean on the other.

The three of them stashed the car in a safe place, then got out. They trudged through the snow, finally reaching the big set of double doors.

When they got inside, however, it was another matter. The doors shut by themselves, which Luke found a little odd. But frankly, he was used to monsters doing that kind of stuff.

As they got closer to the loud music that seemed to be coming from further inside, they were interrupted by a rather gruff looking man. He walked towards them stiffly, like as if his spine was straightened out by an iron box.

Luke had to control the urge to smack himself. They were already confronted by the monster.

"Ha!" the man snapped, which made them jump. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!"

He had an accent—French, maybe. He pronounced his J like in Jacques, He was tall, with a hawkish face. His nostrils flared when he spoke, and his eyes were two different colors—one brown, one blue—like an alley cat's.

They were saved by the goat. Before anyone could answer, Grover ran up, breathless. "You made it! You—"

He stopped short when he saw the teachers. "Oh. Dr. Thorn! I, uh—"

"What is it, Mr. Underwood?" said the man. His tone made it clear that he detested Grover. "What do you mean, they made it? You invited them?!"

But Luke was a pretty damn good liar. "You probably don't remember us. We had taken a leave a while back. We came for the dance. It is the last day of school after all."

Dr. Thorn's eye twitched. Annabeth and Thalia waited for him to throw them out, but nothing happened. Grumbling angrily, Dr. Thorn merely stepped away from them, letting them pass inside.

When they got inside the gymnasium, where the dance was being held, Luke and Grover heaved a sigh of relief.

Thalia frowned. "Why didn't you just use the mist?"

Luke smirked. "That dude was no human. He would have seen through it, and you would have blown our cover."

Grover sighed. "Thank the gods you guys came! I found two!"

Luke's eyes widened. "Two?"

"A brother and a sister," he said. "They're thirteen and fifteen. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."

Annabeth glanced at the bleachers, noticing the two demigods. The girl wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face. The boy was obviously her little brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. The boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards. His sister seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong.

Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth noticed Dr. Thorn glaring at them from the sidelines. She nudged Thalia, signalling to her that mingling was needed. Thalia merely grunted and shoved Luke aside before grabbing Grover and dragging him to the crowd.

Annabeth gasped when she looked back to the children. They were gone.

Warning Luke, she dashed off to find Thalia and Grover. Luke wanted to go after her, but he saw the green cap lying on the floor. He shook his head and ran to the door. The children needed him now.

But no sooner had he exited the gymnasium, a sharp pain entered his shoulder. He shouted as a large spike embedded itself into his bone. Groaning, he yanked it out before unsheathing his sword, Backbiter.

He was able to deflect another spike and another but the third caught him in his thigh. The children were stuck on the other side of the hall.

Luke saw the monster, Dr. Thorn, but he couldn't see how he threw those spikes at him. He only caught a flicker of movement behind the monster before those spikes came at him.

"Thank you for coming out of the gym," he said. "I hate middle school dances."

Luke tried to swing his sword again, but Thorn was just out of reach.

Next to Luke, Bianca yelped. Another spike impaled itself in the stone wall, half an inch from her face.

"All three of you will come with me," Dr. Thorn said. "Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw."

Luke grunted as the poison worked it's way through his pain nerves. He realised this poison just enhanced your pain receptors. Which kinda sucked. It made the pain a lot worse.

The three of them were dragged outside and pushed onto their knees. In front, Luke saw Annabeth, Thalia and Grover also on their knees. Luke snarled. Some demigod stood there, sword out in front of his friends.

There was a brief scuffle when Thalia kneed the traitor in the nuts, but she was subdued. Luke wondered if this was how he was to die.

The traitorous demigod smirked at Thalia. "You've still got a little fight in you! Kronos will love to have you!"

Unbeknownst to the whole group, Perseus watched the scenario from the trees. He sighed. Demigods these days. Holding up his right hand, he pressed a button on the gauntlet.

A small dart was fired from the gauntlet, going straight to the exposed neck of the traitor.

He leapt off the branch, landing smack in the center of the group. As he fell, he grabbed a throwing star and flung it at the monster, which Perseus recognized as a manticore.

The throwing star embedded itself in the manticore's tail, rendering it's spikes useless.

He rolled to the ground and jumped at the monster, giving it a good left cross on it's face.

The shocked manticore had no time to register the sudden attacks. Nor could it do anything about the silver arrows which flew from the forest, embedding itself into the manticore's body.

Thorn roared, but he could do nothing. He jumped off the cliff, pressing a device that later teleported him out of there.

The demigods present were all gobsmacked. They'd never seen anyone like that, and even then, dude was decked with weapons. Twin swords were strapped to his back and a belt of some throwing stars was on his waist. His right had a gun attached and he had metal gauntlets.

Nico gaped at the armoured figure, trying to figure out all the weapons he had.

But their attention on him was short. The archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe twelve. The oldest, about seventeen. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried.

Next to her, Thalia muttered, "Oh, wonderful."

There was a snap-snap-snap from the helicopter—the sound of gunfire. Most of the Hunters scattered as tiny holes appeared in the snow at their feet, but the girl with auburn hair just looked up calmly at the helicopter.

"Mortals," she announced, "are not allowed to witness my hunt."

She thrust out her hand, and the helicopter exploded into dust—no, not dust. The black metal dissolved into a flock of birds—ravens, which scattered into the night.

The Hunters advanced on the group of demigods.

The one called Zoe stopped short when she saw Perseus. "You," she said with distaste.

Perseus smirked. "Miss me. How's Artemis?"

The auburn haired girl sighed. "What are you doing here Perseus?"

"I heard you girls were having trouble with a couple of monsters. Your dad sent me."

That didn't convince the auburn haired girl. "Seriously. Why are you here?"

Perseus smiled. "I'm on a top secret mission. I can't tell you anything."

Grover's eyes widened. "You're Artemis?!"

The auburn haired girl merely shook her head and fixed her attention onto the demigods, and satyr from camp. "Yes. I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt."

The group of demigods were not so surprised. They met her before. That was nothing compared to Grover. He gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so… you're so… Wow!"

Thalia wasn't so happy to see the hunters. "Zoe Nightshade." Thalia's voice trembled with anger. "Perfect timing, as usual."

"Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out."

Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of them in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who… who are you people?"

Perseus smirked. "I'm Batman.". Artemis stared at Perseus, daring him to comment further.

Artemis's expression softened when she looked back at the children. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you? Who are your parents?"

Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.

Our parents are dead," Bianca said. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but…"

She faltered. She could tell from their faces that nobody believed her.

"What?" she demanded. "I'm telling the truth."

"You are a demigod," Perseus said. His accent was distinctly American. "One of your parents was mortal. The other is an Olympian."

"An Olympian… athlete?"

"No," Perseus exclaimed. "One of the gods. Come on!"

"Cool!" said Nico.

"No!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool!"

Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"

"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"

Perseus pointed straight at Artemis. "Uhh. Yeah, there are."

Perseus smirked when Artemis smacked his hand away. She could never have fun.

But in all this, he was secretly wondering how he'd get the kids to Hades. Now that Artemis had shown up, it would be too risky. He briefly thought about shoving them both off the cliff and calling a nereid or two to take them to the Los Angeles beach. But then dear old dad would throw a fit seeing Hades's children in his domain.

He figured his best bet would be to play along for now and inform them himself. Then on the way to camp, he could convince them to run away from the flock. Alecto or someone could then pick them up. Yes. That'd be best.


	3. Crash Landing

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _But in all this, he was secretly wondering how he'd get the kids to Hades. Now that Artemis had shown up, it would be too risky. He briefly thought about shoving them both off the cliff and calling a nereid or two to take them to the Los Angeles beach. But then dear old dad would throw a fit seeing Hades's children in his domain._

 _He figured his best bet would be to play along for now and inform them himself. Then on the way to camp, he could convince them to run away from the flock. Alecto or someone could then pick them up. Yes. That'd be best._

* * *

Perseus hadn't been inside Artemis's tent for quite a while (not like that). It sure had changed. Bianca di Angelo sat next to the auburn haired goddess and Luke Castellan sat opposite to her. Perseus plopped onto the ground away from all of them.

The inside of the tent was warm and comfortable. Silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. In the center, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke.

Behind the goddess, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts: black bear, tiger, and several others.

A deer with a sparkling pelt and glittering horns rested on Artemis's lap.

"Join us, Perseus," the goddess said.

"Artemis. How's life?"

The goddess ignored his small talk. She had more pressing matters. "Perseus. Bianca and Luke have reported to me what they have heard the manticore say. I'm afraid it's disturbing news. I will be leaving at dawn. Alone. I'll send for my brother to transport all of you back."

The goddess motioned for her lieutenant to take Bianca. While the girl left, Perseus noticed the silvery aura around her. One of the water bottles exploded, making Artemis look at him oddly.

As Perseus left the tent, he wondered what he'd tell Hades. 'Oh hey Uncle, a daughter of Zeus has your daughter. Geez I'm sorry man!'

That itself would earn him a ticket to the Fields of Punishment.

* * *

As Apollo's chariot touched down, Perseus groaned internally. There went his plan to send the kids to Hades ... not the hard way of course!

He put on a fake happy face and walked towards the sun chariot. An overly excited eighteen-ish Apollo stepped out of the red Maserati. The rims of the sun chariot were still white hot, vaporising the snow around it. The air turned steamy around the chariot.

Perseus didn't know whether Apollo knew why he was really here. Usually, the sun god tended to know such things, being god of prophecies and all.

"PERCY! My man!"

For simplicity's sake, I'll call Perseus as Percy from now on.

Percy gave the sun god a pointed look. "You're still driving that plastic shit?"

Apollo visibly deflated. "Come on man! This ain't plastic shit and you know it. Reinforced Olympian Silver. Better than your bike."

Artemis sighed. "HEY! Both of you dumbasses! We're running out of time. You want the sun rising in the evening?"

Thalia and Annabeth glanced at each other. They never really did see gods fighting each other. Well, they assumed Percy was a god.

Apollo sighed. "Alright sis. Where to take y'all?"

"Take them to the camp. And some of Chiron's demigods."

Percy looked at the hunters. Frankly, he didn't like them. Nope. Not at all. Except for maybe Zoe, he felt like throwing the rest of them from the cliff at Westover's. They were a bunch of snobbish, stuck up teens without the dating and a huge stereotype towards anything male.

No, really. The first time he met them, he thought that they'd be at least regular people ... sort of, but he was wrong. The minute he showed up it was deflecting arrows practice for him.

And some of them riled him up on purpose. He really wanted to smack the whole lot of them right in their little faces. But he held back. He had to keep his facade.

But it's not like he hated Artemis. Quite the opposite. In fact, they almost had a thing many centuries back. Of course, she wasn't twelve at the time.

He thought about all that as he was getting into the sun chariot. He briefly saw Apollo calling out someone to drive. He recognized the one, Thalia who was picked especially. Percy sighed. At least he didn't pick a hunter to drive.

* * *

Scratch the last sentence. Percy wished he picked a hunter.

Thalia Grace was scared of heights. Percy could tell that much. The sun chariot went up and down in irregular fashions. When the chariot went too high, she left the wheel, making the sun plummet. When the chariot went low, she yanked it back up with no sense whatsoever.

Percy briefly wondered what the mortals saw. It wasn't as if there were any other deities for the sun, so this day would look odd. The Egyptian gods died out. The other pantheons relied on mortal worship and they too died out once people stopped worshipping them.

The Christian Pantheon was no longer much in action. They honestly didn't care what happened to the mortal world. The Hindu gods were also powerful, but they were nowhere to be seen. Percy wondered if they'd just occupied another planet. Like the angels, they too didn't bother much about the earth, believing that pantheons should solve their own problems.

The reason the Olympians were alive was because they were powered by their domains, not mortals' worship. Of course, worship would help, but it wasn't absolutely necessary. Not like the other gods.

Normal demigods wouldn't know this much about other pantheons, but being a friend of the messenger god had it's perks. Hermes was probably the only god in existence to have visited all the pantheons. That's how he knew archangels were overrated. They were only as strong as their father allowed them to be.

Back when he heard of them in the starting of the 1st century, Percy did think they were at least as powerful as titans. At least, that's how they were described. Imagine his surprise when they were just like all other deities.

Although, it wasn't that hard to believe. He supposed that the creator of the universe (Lady Chaos, whom he only had heard about and never seen), must have made all pantheons equal, so that they wouldn't dominate each other. He supposed it made sense that way.

He briefly saw the stars, away from the pollution, vacuum of space was filled with glowing lights. Percy wondered if the Norse gods were still around. He hoped not. Hermes had once told him about this big war between the Olympians and the Asgardians. It had happened just a few centuries after man was created. The Norse wanted to be the benevolent rulers of mankind but it was still a titan who created them, from the _Greek_ Pantheon.

Percy was broken out of his thoughts when the chariot suddenly rocketed towards the earth at an unnatural angle. He tried to stay calm, as much as the situation sucked.

The hunters and demigods alike screamed as the sun chariot hurtled towards the ocean at terminal velocity. He tried to think of something. Anything.

Good. The Ocean. When they were still hundreds of feet in the air, the chariot was suddenly engulfed in salt water. The demigods and hunters gasped as their surroundings suddenly turned dark as the fishes in the twilight zone surrounded them, looking confused.

Apollo heaved a sigh of relief. His dear sun chariot would've gotten screwed up. Nothing much would've happened to him. Just a few scratches and all, but the demigods might either die, or go into a coma. Percy would've lived, barely.

The water around them hissed and steamed as the sun chariot bubbled up to the surface.

Apollo looked at Thalia. "You are never going to drive again!"

Thalia was too relieved to argue. When the chariot reached the shores, she belly flopped onto the sand, only to be ambushed by a dozen demigods, who'd all seen the sun going down, literally.

"Take care, sweethearts!" Apollo called after the Hunters. He winked at Percy. "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon."

"What?!"

Instead of answering, he hopped back in the chariot, now back into car form. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!"

He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn't. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. Percy watched as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. The beach was steaming. A red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.

Most of the campers were too shocked to say anything, and were herded off to their cabins by Chiron. The centaur led them across the camp, right to the big house.

He looked at the cabins. The U formation of the cabins mirrored the arrangement of the seats of power throne room. Basketball and volleyball court in the middle.

The far end, he could see the beach. He smiled. Perfect. Dad's domain on one side, the forests to cover the other three. Given time, they could mount a solid defense.

It wasn't a flat ground, but they could lure the enemy inside and there were several vantage points to position archers. Hmm. He wondered. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Frost covered a chariot track and the strawberry fields. The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they seemed to be balls of real fire.

"Whoa," Nico said as he climbed off the bus. "Is that a climbing wall?"

"Apparently," Percy said.

"Why is there lava pouring down it?"

"Buddy, I'm seeing it for the first time too."

Nico was still looking grumpy. Percy was pretty sure Bianca spilled the beans.

"Who's Chiron?" he asked. "I don't have his figurine."

"A teacher," Percy said. "He's a centaur."

"If those Hunter girls don't like him," Nico grumbled, "that's good enough for me. Let's go."

Percy's eyebrows raised. Little Nico here already developing a small dislike for the hunters. Percy made sure to look out for the boy. The hunters didn't care about age. They'd still stick him full of arrows.

Chiron led them to the parlour in the big house, where Dionysus sat. Percy's eyes widened. Dionysus? Raising demigod children? The world really was coming to an end.

Dionysus noticed the wide eyed look coming from Percy. "Don't look at me like that! It was father's idea!"

Percy shook his head in relief. "Good. Otherwise that would mean you're imposter."

Just then, Grover trotted into the room, grinning like crazy. He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap mark. "The Hunters are all moved in!"

Chiron frowned. "We have much to talk about." He glanced at Nico. "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film."

"Thalia," Chiron said quickly, "you go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening. Take Percy here with you. Just to show him around."

"Capture the flag?" Thalia asked. "But we don't have enough—"

"It is a tradition," Chiron said. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."

* * *

That night, Percy was disturbed. He didn't have a proper dream, but he kept getting flashes of various images. Most of them he recognised, they were the ruins of Mt. Orthrys, the palace of the titans.

He also saw the sky, and for some reason, the image showed a young girl instead of the titan, but periodically, the image flickered revealing Atlas. Percy frowned. It looked like as if a little girl was forced to hold the sky, but every once in a while, the image would flicker, revealing the titan.

Percy shook his head, trying to forget whatever he saw. But he couldn't. He woke up, getting out of his bed.

He tapped a button on his gauntlet, causing the gauntlet to fire up a holographic image of Apollo, who looked like he was about to cry. "Apollo!"

The sun god looked at Percy. "H-Hey Percy. Why are you calling so late?"

Percy frowned. "Something is wrong. I can feel it."

Apollo looked down, making the demigod grow more suspicious. "Where's Artemis?"

The sun god didn't answer, causing Percy's eyes to widen. "Please don't tell me she got captured by Atlas."

Apollo shot up looking at Percy. "How did you know?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Dreams. Duh."

The sun god looked miserable. "She's stuck under the sky, and I can't even help her. There will be a prophecy tomorrow. Please be on the quest Percy."

Percy shook his head.

Apollo looked angry. "Then what'll you do?!"

"I'm going to go to Orthrys and whack the shit out of Atlas until he crawls back under the sky."

Apollo shook his head. "Don't be stupid Percy. Obey the prophecy. Save my sister."

* * *

The nest morning, Zoe Nightshade looked pretty upset. She kept glancing resentfully at Chiron, like she couldn't believe he was making her do this. The other Hunters didn't look too happy, either. Unlike last night, they weren't laughing or joking around. They just huddled together in the dining pavilion, whispering nervously to each other as they strapped on their armor. Some of them even looked like they'd been crying.

Percy reckoned that she might have had a dream involving Artemis under the sky.

Well, Percy didn't actually see Artemis under the sky but it was obvious. Tricking her by letting her think a little girl was trapped under? That was the most foolproof way to capture a goddess of maidens. Plus, Apollo looked like he might have a nervous breakdown anytime soon.

But Percy had to wait for the damned prophecy to be sprouted out before he could go. If it were up to him, he would've taken a grenade launcher and stormed into Orthrys. Well, a grenade launcher with celestial ammunition.

Percy found this capture the flag to be a rather fun game. Two teams, red and blue. Each had to try and steal the other's flag and return to their own base.

Annabeth approached him. "We have the creek side, can you guard the flag, since you're a last minute addition, we kinda practiced this yesterday."

Percy nodded. "Yeah whatever. Just get the flag. I can't wait to rub this in Artemis's face when I get her back."

The daughter of Athena laughed a little, glad that he was on their side. She had gotten all night to think about him. He was powerful, knocking down Dr. Thorn with a punch to the face, and how even Artemis didn't sense him in the trees (at least, she assumed he was in the trees). Though she didn't really get what he meant by getting Artemis back. She didn't pay much attention to that thought, disposing of it.

The campers were all in a serious mood. Nobody wanted to lose to the hunters (again). Even the Aphrodite cabin was in battle armour, brandishing their weapons. Percy smiled. Artemis and Aphrodite's rivalry was much worse than that of Athena's and his father's. At least his dad and Athena openly insulted each other. Aphrodite got personal with her attacks, making Artemis's hunters go astray and all.

Percy whistled the Darth Vader theme as he stood on top of a rock where the flag was standing. He closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling the water around him. In this state, even the slightest movement couldn't be missed by him. Even a mosquito wouldn't escape his notice.

He opened his eyes, smiling. "Come on out hunters, I can sense you. You can't hide."

Blunt arrows flew at him from all directions. Acting on instinct, he raised a wall of water to block all of them. He lowered the wall and pulled out a sleek black sword. The blade was light and thin, but very strong and sharp. Some of the older hunters paled looking at the sword. Perseus was _the_ best swordsman they'd ever seen and all the hunters combined couldn't take him on. Zoe even thought he might be able to take on Artemis.

But one hunter stepped forward. "Surrender now _male._ We have the numbers. You have nothing."

Percy smirked. "Wrong. I have the high ground."

Zoe and the older hunters groaned. Percy and his 9gag meme jokes as bad as Apollo's haikus. Especially the high ground joke, which got really old.

Zoe, Phoebe and Atlanta charged him with their knives. Quicker than the could think, he deflected everything and left tiny cuts on their vital (but non-lethal) spots, like the palm of their good hand, etc. Zoe gasped as she was knocked down to the ground. He was fast. Really fast. Looks like someone got a speed boost from Hermes. Even with her enhanced reflexes, she could only see a blur decimating the hunters.

One of the hunters was brutally thrown against a tree at sixty miles an hour. Her head spun and stars swam across her vision. In her anger, she knocked a sharpened arrow and fired it, which didn't travel more than ten feet before being shredded apart.

"Sorry. Game's over."

He waved his hand, causing a ten foot wall of water to engulf the entire group in water. By the time he was done, they were completely drained of their energy, simply lying on the ground, as if they had gone three rounds with a bear.

Zoe struggled and leaned against the tree, sputtering. "What was that?!"

Percy smirked as he got off the high ground. "It's a new, and useful technique I've been trying out. You see, the speed and pressure at which your heart pumps your blood defines the energy you have. Slow the blood down and reduce the supply of oxygen, rendering you useless."

Zoe groaned and tried to get up to smack him, but she couldn't budge her legs. "The last time I was so tired was when we had to fight in the first Gigantomachy ... screw you."

Percy chuckled at her expense. He then heard the sound of his teammates rushing towards the creek with the hunter's flag. "Oh and by the way Zoe, you lose."

The huntress was far too tired to even bother reacting when Luke crossed the creek, bringing the hunter's flag right next to their's. The silver flag turned orange, a confirmation which acted as a punch to the face for the losing team.

Zoe was about to get up and pick a fight, but what she saw made her lose all her anger at once.

Someone… something was approaching. It was shrouded in a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the everyone gasped.

"This is impossible," Chiron said. Percy had never heard him sound so nervous. "It… she has never left the attic. Never."

And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around their feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.

No one dared to move. Then her voice hissed inside Percy's head. Apparently everyone could hear it, because everyone clutched their hands over the ears.

 _'I am the sprit of Delphi'_ , the voice said. _'Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.'_

The Oracle regarded Percy with its cold, dead eyes. Then she turned unmistakably toward Zoe Nightshade. _'Approach, Seeker, and ask.'_

Percy frowned. Apollo told him there would be a prophecy. How come the oracle didn't choose him?

Zoe swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. Percy could see the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. The Oracle spoke:

 _'Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

 _One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

 _The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

 _Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

 _The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

 _And one shall perish by a parent's hand.'_

Then, as everyone was watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as a pebble, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.


	4. The Lion, The Hero and The Villain

Previously on Immortal Warrior,

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. Percy could see the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. The Oracle spoke:

 _'Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

 _One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

 _The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

 _Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

 _The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

 _And one shall perish by a parent's hand.'_

Then, as everyone was watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as a pebble, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.

* * *

( _Mount Orthrys, Palace of the Titans_ )

A lone figure stood in the center of the throne room of the titans. He had black armour with hints of gold and his black cape was interwoven with strands of gold. The figure had a spartan style helmet on, with a gold plume.

He turned around, walking out of the palace, where the moon goddess was trapped under the sky.

She cursed at him. "Who are you?! I can see through any mist! What magic was that?!"

You couldn't see the man's face, but only his mouth, which curled into a cruel smirk. "You see, that wasn't magic, Artemis. That was science."

He stepped forward, leaning close to her. "It's called a transmogrifier. It allows you to create optical illusions which makes things look different ... not that you'd understand. After all, all you are is a twelve year old running in a forest with a bunch of other twelve year olds."

Angered, the goddess tried to spit at him, which only amused the man further. As if she were a poodle who yipped at him.

He walked around her, slowly, his boots thudding against the cold, hard stone.

"You shouldn't really anger your benefactor, Artemis. I could have arranged a much less pleasant stay for you here. One that involves horny titans." He said, his hand cupping her left breast.

The goddess whimpered. She was in no state to defend herself and the titans could take her for themselves, breaking her oath which she kept so carefully for millennia. The man smiled. "Though I still don't get titans and their taste in women. In my eyes, you look disgusting, and pathetic."

He turned around, walking across the mountain, his cape fluttering in the wind.

* * *

( _The Quest_ )

The next morning, Percy and the others were seated in a van. The group consisted of Percy himself, and two hunters, Zoe and Bianca. Phoebe was supposed to come but that was a long story involving two Hermes kids and centaur blood.

The other member was Thalia. Luke wasn't allowed since Zoe (as quest leader) didn't want a male on her quest. Percy was allowed because he would've bitch-slapped Zoe anyway and come on the quest. Artemis was a good friend of his.

Zoe drove through the morning traffic like a Formula One champion. Cars honked at them as they blatantly disobeyed every traffic rule in the book.

As they went by street lamps at an alarmingly high speed, Percy found something interesting about Thalia. She was fifteen, going to be sixteen, but the actual age of her body looked nineteen. And she would've been nineteen, but trees age slower and thus she was actually fifteen, nearing sixteen.

Which wasn't a good thing because she was Zeus's daughter and was a viable candidate for the Great Prophecy.

He kept spinning his throwing star in anticipation. He was waiting to get to Orthrys.

The group was informed by Percy about who held Artemis hostage and where, so there wasn't much to do, except drive and drive until you get to the palace of the titans. Midway, they'd stopped to eat at a local coffee store. What they didn't know was that someone was tailing them.

Percy didn't know exactly what was wrong, but he kept getting a tingly sensation that made him uneasy. It kept him on edge. They drank their coffee and exited the store and Thalia could've sworn she bumped into someone, but for some reason, she didn't see anyone.

She frowned. She kept walking. Just then, she heard a sigh of relief, which made Thalia punch towards the location. Stuck in the middle of the door and her fist, the stalker took it like a man, going straight to the floor. The invisibility cap came off, revealing one Luke Castellan. He rubbed his face. "Ow Thals!"

Zoe's eyebrows scrunched in anger. "YOU! You dare follow?!"

Luke raised his hands. "Look! The general is here. I saw him!"

Percy frowned. "But why would he-"

Just then, two odd things happened. Out of nowhere, a roar shook the street and cars were flung aside like baby toys being thrown by a toddler. A hummer made impact right on top of the coffee shop.

Percy growled, looking at the Nemean Lion. "I liked that coffee shop."

He unsheathed his sword, Maelstrom. Bows appeared in Zoe's and Bianca's arms and quivers appeared on their backs. Thalia took her spear out and expanded Aegis, which made the monster take a couple steps backwards.

With a yell, Percy charged the monster, trying to go for the soft skin beneath it's paws, but the monster refused to let it's guard down. Just for kicks, to see if Stygian Iron might affect it, he swung Maelstrom with such ferocity it should have turned the lion into a kebab, but all he got in return was a backlash of his own strength, which left his arm stinging.

But the blow staggered the lion, even if it didn't pierce it's skin.

He rolled to the side, dodging it's claws and brought his sword up, slashing the bottom of it's paw. Roaring in pain, it attempted to bite him, but Maelstrom was ready. The black sword went through the roof of the lion's mouth, piercing it's brain and coming to a stop at the skin.

Several arrows popped up right next to the sword, effectively killing the beast. Wiping a fake sweat, Percy sighed. "Let's go. This is only the beginning."

Thalia frowned. "What about him?" She said, pointing at Luke.

Zoe glared at him. "You are part of this quest now," Zoe said grudgingly. "I do not like it, but there is no changing fate. You are the fifth quest member. And we are not leaving anyone behind."

* * *

( _Mount Orthrys_ )

Three titans and another being sat around a large conference table. Hyperion, the titan of light and fire spoke first. "It seems that they are coming here. They've fell for the trap."

A black armoured figure who sat at the head of the table shook his head. "Still, we shouldn't underestimate them. There is a prophecy. If we're not careful, the fools might pull it off."

Atlas laughed. "They'll do what? Defeat a titan? Even Perseus can't do that."

The black armoured figure smiled a little. "Of course not. If you are as powerful as you claim."

Krios narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean, Storm? Are you doubting us?"

The black armoured figure, Storm. Or, his actual name, Darkstorm, smiled. "No no. I'm just making sure. You see, Ares said the same thing once, right before I crushed his spine. But of course, they are gods, whereas you are titans. There is a difference, right?"

Atlas smiled cruelly. "You bet, Storm. You bet."


	5. Demolishing Downtown

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _Krios narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean, Storm? Are you doubting us?"_

 _The black armoured figure, Storm. Or, his actual name, Darkstorm, smiled. "No no. I'm just making sure. You see, Ares said the same thing once, right before I crushed his spine. But of course, they are gods, whereas you are titans. There is a difference, right?"_

 _Atlas smiled cruelly. "You bet, Storm. You bet."_

* * *

The van skidded across the pavement, turning ninety degrees as the group desperately tried to lose the helicopter. Cars honked at the intersection and people screamed, diving behind billboards.

Percy opened the window and stuck half his body out. He took out his revolver, which by the way, had an unlimited supply of celestial bronze mixed with steel bullets. The revolver was old, the gun itself was from the late 1800s, and so the aim wasn't that good.

But Percy shot guns since they were invented. Taking aim, he fired several shots into the back rotors, but sadly they didn't do much damage. This was a military chopper which was coming after them.

"HIT IT ZOE!"

Said hunter slammed her foot onto the gas pedal while the rest of the group was thrown around the van. Getting back in the van, Percy kicked the roof hard enough to send it flying towards the chopper.

But the skeleton warriors operating saw it coming, and the chopper tilted right, barely scraping the projectile. When they looked back, Percy was in a crouched poise, and before they could do anything, he came at them.

Using the accelerating van as a boost, the demigod leaped off the now roofless vehicle, soaring towards the chopper. As he flew, he drew his twin celestial bronze blades that were on his back, positioning them in front of him.

The blades tore through the chopper straight through the middle, while the rotors fell to the ground, chipping away at the pavement until concrete shortened it. The two halves of the chopper fell on to either side of the road while Percy kept going straight.

But unlike Zeus's children, he couldn't fly. The momentum he achieved when leaping off the van continued with him until he felt a sharp pain as his back smashed straight through the foundations of a parking lot.

He coughed as the dust filled his nostrils. He slowly got up, pushing aside a concrete pillar, but heard a crack. Glancing up, Percy's eyes widened. "Oh shit!" he said, right before the entire building collapsed on top of him.

* * *

( _With Zoe Nightshade and Co._ )

Bianca stared wide eyed at the scenario. "Stop! We need to get him!" She shouted to Zoe.

The huntress glanced behind her. Even from that distance, she could see the bones of the skeleton warriors regrouping themselves together. They didn't stand a chance. Her heart felt a slight pang at having to leave behind, but as much as she hated to do it, she had to. She couldn't risk the fate of the quest for one demigod.

She slammed the gas, much to the horror of the rest of the questers.

"STOP!" Luke yelled over the noise. "STOP THE CAR! HE'LL DIE!"

Tears formed in the corners of Zoe's eyes. She didn't argue, fearing that she might actually just turn back. "Percy is strong. He will survive." She said.

The questers didn't look so convinced, and frankly, neither did Zoe. Those skeleton warriors, or Spartoi, were unkillable. Every strike will just piss them off more. She didn't see how Percy could defeat them.

* * *

( _With Percy_ )

If you were there at Downtown D.C that day, you would've seen a building collapse upon itself, as though it's foundation was blown with C4. A large mound of cement and steel sat in the south east corner of the parking lot.

Suddenly, the mound exploded outwards, smashing everything it came in contact with in a three sixty degree area. Cracking his neck, Percy stepped out of the dust. There was nowhere to run now, he'd have to face the Spartoi head on. He was mad. The building hurt, but nothing much to make him bleed.

A bit of searching and he found his twin blades, which weren't even dent the slightest. Brand new as though it was just forged and cooled. The Celestial Bronze emitted a low glow, contrasting beautifully with the evening sunset.

As if on cue, a dozen Spartoi surrounded him, keeping a ten feet distance. They took out their pistols and fired.

To Percy, the bullets came at the speed of a pebble moving through syrup. He brought his blades, deflecting the bullets off, and spinning and slashing the air again to counter the second wave of shots. Eventually, he came at the first skeleton in range and swung his blade hard, slicing straight through it.

The bones unknit and clattered to the ground, but they immediately began to reform. Eyes widening, Percy kicked the skeleton while it was still reforming, scattering it's bones all across the city block. He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and right leg as Stygian Iron bullets tore through his skin.

He sliced the head off the skeleton behind him and whacked the other with a fallen pillar, smashing it hard enough to crack the floor beneath them. The bones turned into powder, but even that slowly lumped together, forming bones.

Percy grunted. "What the hell does it take to kill these things?!"

He felt sharp pains in his abdomen and chest as more bullets were fired. Now he couldn't stand. He fell to the ground, his vision darkened and the last thing he saw was the skeletons leaving.

* * *

( _With Zoe Nightshade and Co._ )

The quest had to stop near a subway station, since they ran out of gas. They couldn't exactly take it to the nearest gas station, what with the roof blown off and all.

They got into the train, heading straight. They didn't even bother where they went. All they cared about was getting away from the skeleton warriors. At every step of the way, Luke had one hand on the hilt. He kept glancing around, like he expected a Spartoi to suddenly pop out of nowhere.

As Thalia walked, the lights flickered around her. She was upset. She didn't know Percy that well, but she really _really_ liked him. In both ways, as a friend and well, ... she had a little crush on him. Though she had a crush on every powerful person, due to her fatal flaw, but that's besides the point.

Unbeknownst to everyone, the shadows grew darker and the atmosphere thickened, hence why Luke acted so paranoid. What they didn't know was the Bianca was subconsciously affecting her father's domain around them. A general gloom had befallen everyone around her, including the quest members. If one looked closely, they could see tiny tendrils off darkness wrapping themselves around any and all light sources, darkening the area.

Finally, they got off the train, but they'd reached a dead end. They found themselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder here.

They wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years.

"So, " Luke said. "What now? We're at a dead end."

A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. Luke figured they must've looked pretty pathetic, because he gave them a toothless grin and said, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!"

They huddled around his fire, Thalia's teeth were chattering. She said, "Well this is g-g-g-great.". She didn't understand why she felt so cold. She almost never did. Most of the times, weather never affected her. Her father controlled it of course.

"Maybe we should contact camp," Bianca said. "Chiron—"

"No," Zoe said. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."

"You know," the homeless man said, "you're never completely without friends." His face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, man," Luke said. "You know of any?"

He pointed one greasy hand.

Suddenly they noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

"That's… convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh…"

She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of them was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him.

An hour later they were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now, because everyone got their own luxury car. Zoe and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Luke was marvelling at the interiors behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. And Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt-rock stations from D.C.

Sitting in the driver's seat was the same homeless guy, but he wasn't really homeless.

Golden light filled the cabin as the homeless guy persona burned away revealing the god, Apollo. The sun god's eyes narrowed as he used his godly power to speed the train to ridiculous speeds.

"Hang in there sis. I'm coming to get you."

* * *

( _With Percy_ )

When Percy came back to consciousness, he found that he was still in the same spot, but the skeleton warriors were gone. A few feet beside him, a figure sat on a fallen pillar. He wore black armour with a golden cape and the helmet had a gold plume.

Percy shot up. "Who are you?!"

The figure merely looked at him, before standing up. **"How rude! Didn't the gods teach you your manners?".** His voice was distorted, sounding like a demon's. It sounded a little scary, to be frank, but Percy wasn't. Even though he couldn't see his face.

 **"I am Darkstorm."**

Percy lowered his swords, confused.

Percy frowned. "What? That's just a myth."

The figure smiled. **"Aren't you a myth too?"**

Percy frowned even further, if that was possible. Darkstorm was a being thought to have fought against the gods during the first Titanomachy. But no one believed it. Plus, the name itself was derived from English, which Percy knew did not exist during the Golden Age. He knew it was just a rumour spread by some fool. But that very being stood before him. Percy shook his head. He could be lying.

Stupidly, he charged, thinking he could take him on. But Darkstorm sidestepped early on, making Percy stumble, nearly falling. His eyes widened slightly. Whoever this guy was, he was good. It was almost as if he knew exactly what Percy was going to do.

Every attack went the same way. Percy was not just frustrated, but he was utterly confused. This guy knew every move he was going to make, in and out. He knew exactly how Percy would attack and he knew exactly how he'd improvise them. Which was something absolutely nobody could do.

Having more skill is one thing, but literally knowing every move your opponent is going to make? That was an entirely different thing.

"Who are you?! Really." Darkstorm smirked. **"You know exactly who I am, Percy."** He said, whacking the demigod so hard he flew through the wall and came out onto the street.

Percy gasped, his chest heaving in pain. "I don't know who you are!"

The armoured figure dashed forward in front of Percy, but all the demigod saw was a blur, before he the air rushed out of him and his gut wrenched in pain. The armoured figure had driven his fist so hard it broke several ribs.

The force of the punch sent a shockwave all around them in a circle, cracking concrete and steel. Glass shattered into a million pieces and cars were pushed aside. A truck caved into itself when Percy was thrown straight into it.

Darkstorm stepped in front of him. **"But you do know Percy. We've been at this a long time, you and I, but I'm always one step ahead."**

In desperation, Percy lunged at him, but Darkstorm merely leaned sideways, dodging the blow, while he pushed his palm outwards, sending Percy crashing to the ground. He leaped on top of the demigod, putting his knee on his already broken ribs, eliciting a moan of pain.

 **"If only I could kill you right now."**

Darkstorm stood up. **"Until next time, _Percy._ "**

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* * *

 **I know it's been a long time since I last updated, but please review and tell me what you think of the villain.**

 **P.S - I know Darkstorm seems ridiculously overpowered and OP compared to Percy, but Percy will catch up. Maybe.**

 **MUAHAHAHAHA!**

 **P.P.S - For those of you wondering how Darkstorm's armour looks like, the link is here.**

 **For some reason, fanfiction isn't allowing me to post a direct link, so you'll have to type it yourself. Change the dot to '.'**

 **imgbb'dot'com/bUi0iF**

 **The only thing is that the armour is black and cape is gold. The plume on top of the helmet is also gold.**


	6. One Shall Be Lost

Previously on Immortal Warrior,

Darkstorm stepped in front of him. **"But you do know Percy. We've been at this a long time, you and I, but I'm always one step ahead."**

In desperation, Percy lunged at him, but Darkstorm merely leaned sideways, dodging the blow, while he pushed his palm outwards, sending Percy crashing to the ground. He leaped on top of the demigod, putting his knee on his already broken ribs, eliciting a moan of pain.

 **"If only I could kill you right now."**

Darkstorm stood up. **"Until next time,** ** _Percy._**

Apollo wasn't having a very good day. His sister was being held captive in the palace of the titans and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Not officially anyway. Hiding a few demigods onto a supersonic train was harder than he thought. He had to be extra careful so that Zeus wouldn't see him.

Suddenly though, he received an alert, pointing towards D.C.

Frowning, he flashed out, appearing Downtown. His eyes widened. Massive destruction littered the area. He could see a collapsed building, it's pieces strewn across the block. There was a circle where the road was evenly destroyed. Immediately he knew it was an after effect due to two powerful forces colliding, causing a shockwave.

Several metres away, he could see the limp figure of Perseus. He gasped. All the while, he wondered where Percy was. He would've known if he was dead, but evidently that wasn't the case. He scanned the demigod's body, eyebrows raising. He could only imagine the kind of force required to cause damage to such a powerful demigod.

His entire ribcage was shattered and his jaw was dislocated so horribly it nearly popped out of his skin. Apollo could see two purple spots where he assumed was the contact of the force. His eyes widened further. Who in the universe could do that in two hits?

Shaking his head, he went to pick up Percy, but then frowned. Mortals were approaching. Taking a risk, he teleported the two of them away, to the outskirts of the city where no one would see them. Sighing in relief when he heard no thunder, he again bent down to heal Percy, but stopped.

It wasn't much, but Apollo started to feel slightly weak. Like, one percent of his power just vanished. He gasped, seeing Percy's body. "Impossible!" He exclaimed. The broken ribs slowly began to mend themselves and his jaw went back to it's position. All his other wounds vanished and the bullets fired from the Spartoi were just pushed out of the body, before those holes were covered up too.

But as this happened, Apollo felt a teeny bit weaker, like as if he were a mortal who had just gotten the flu. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on, but the god wouldn't believe it. It had to be impossible, right?

He backtracked slowly, and as he did, he felt his power return. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates in realisation. Panicking, he simply disappeared in a golden flash of light, leaving the demigod in the middle of the Virginia countryside.

* * *

( _Twenty four hours later_ )

When the demigods and hunters woke up, immediately they unleashed their weapons on ... thin air.

"Where are we?" Luke wondered.

Ahead of them was a two-lane road half covered with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Perseus was born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said 'GILA CLAW, ARIZONA' hanging crooked above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills… but then Luke noticed they weren't regular hills. The countryside was way too flat for that. The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

His eyes widened. "Hephaestus's Junkyard", he muttered. Zoe seemed to come to the same conclusion while Bianca and Thalia were left confused. "What? Who's junk?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "It's where _Lord_ Hephaestus throws his garbage."

Thalia's eyes widened. "So much garbage!"

Luke took the opportunity. "As Edison once said, it takes a thousand fails before one can succeed."

"Ugh!"

"What?" Luke exclaimed.

Bianca laughed a little. "Cool it on the proverbs will you, lover boy."

Zoe was frowning. "This is why we shouldn't bring boys. They will only serve as a distraction."

Luke's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. A damn good one. By the way, that _distraction_ is the reason you're still alive."

Everyone looked down. They still had no clue about what happened to Percy. Their morale especially dipped when Zoe simply declared him dead. According to her, twenty four hours were over and he didn't come back so he must be dead.

Luke wanted to punch her in the face, hard.

The demigods and hunters set up camp. It was late. The train had travelled for an entire day, though in the middle it had slowed down a lot, or else the might have even reached San Francisco. Luke hoped that maybe, just maybe Percy would meet them there. It was a silly hope, but he kept it. He didn't know the guy very well, but he liked him. He was a swell guy.

As Luke was about to lay down, the ground shook. It was a periodic THUMP! ... THUMP! ... THUMP! ... THUMP!

He immediately recognised it. Footsteps. Huge ones.

He shot out of his tent, sword in hand. The others had just gotten out of their tents and stared at the gigantic automaton in wonder. In front of the automaton, a girl ran towards them. Bianca di Angelo.

Zoe glared at Luke. "What?!" He exclaimed. "I didn't do nothin'!"

The both of them dived in opposite directions as the giant foot came smashing down upon them. When it was down, Luke took the opportunity to lunge and slash at the robot's leg. Black oil poured from the broken pipe inside the automaton and spilled onto the sand.

"Who took something?!" Luke yelled, but his voice was drowned out by the screeching noise the automaton made as it moved towards them.

Zoe gasped. "Di Immortales! That is Talos!"

The demigods and hunters ran for their lives, leaving behind all their belongings, because honestly, who cares. Friggin' Talos was after them, and it was a prototype new edition model, the rocket blasters gave it away.

Luke pushed Thalia out of the way as an ionised plasma vaporised the spot she stood on. Her eyes widened. "Was that a Star Wars blaster cannon?!"

Another round came at them and they were forced to roll over and then run along the junkyard, Talos in tow.

Luke looked behind. "It appears so."

Blue plasma shots hit several spots around them and Luke was sure he would've died, but apparently the guiding system must've been broken because nobody got hit. They were reaching the other end of the junkyard but Talos didn't seem to stop or slow down.

Luke noticed something in Bianca's hand. "BIANCA!" He yelled. "DROP THAT THING!"

She looked at it sadly. "It's the Hades statue. It's the only one he doesn't have."

"How can you think of Mythomagic at a time like this?" Luke said.

There were tears in her eyes.

"Throw it down," he said. "Maybe it will leave us alone."

She dropped it reluctantly, but nothing happened.

The giant kept coming after Zoe and Thalia, who were a little behind. It stabbed its sword into a junk hill, missing Zoe by a few feet, but scrap metal made an avalanche over her, and then they couldn't see her anymore.

"No!" Thalia yelled. She pointed her spear, and a blue arc of lightning shot out, hitting the automaton in it's rusty knee, which buckled. The giant collapsed, but immediately started to rise again. It was hard to tell if it could feel anything. There weren't any emotions in its half-melted face, but Luke got the sense that it was about as ticked off as a twenty-story-tall metal warrior could be.

It raised his foot to stomp and he saw that it's sole was treaded like the bottom of a sneaker. There was a hole in it's heel, like a large manhole, and there were red words painted around it, which he deciphered only after the foot came down: 'FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY'.

"Crazy-idea time," Luke said.

Bianca looked at him nervously. "Anything."

He told her about the maintenance hatch. "There may be a way to control the thing. Switches or something. I'm going to get inside."

"How? You'll have to stand under its foot! You'll be crushed"

"Distract it," he said. "I'll just have to time it right."

Bianca's jaw tightened. "No. I'll go."

"Are you mental?!"

"It's my fault the thing came after us," she said. "It's my responsibility. Here." She picked up the little god statue of Hades and pressed it into Luke's hand. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him… tell him I'm sorry."

"Bianca, no!"

But she wasn't waiting. She charged at the monster's left foot.

Thalia had its attention for the moment. She'd learned that Talos was big but slow. If you could stay close to it and not get smashed, you could run around it and stay alive. At least, it was working so far.

Bianca got right next to the giant's foot, trying to balance herself on the metal scraps that swayed and shifted with his weight.

Thalia yelled, "What are you doing?"

"Get it to raise its foot!" she said.

Thalia shot a bolt of lightning toward the robot's face and it flew straight at one nostril. The giant straightened and shook its head, sparking with electricity.

"Hey, Jackass!" Luke yelled. "Down here."

Luke ran up to its big toe and stabbed it with his sword. The blade cut a gash in the bronze.

Unfortunately, his plan worked. Talos looked down at him and raised his foot to squash him like a bug. He couldn't see what Bianca was doing. He turned and ran. The foot came down about two inches behind him and he was knocked into the air. He hit something hard and sat up, dazed. He'd been thrown into an Olympus-Air refrigerator.

The robot was about to finish me off, but Zoe somehow dug herself out of the junk pile. She shot arrow after arrow, but it didn't seem to affect Talos.

"ZOE!" Thalia and Luke both ran toward her, but they'd be too late.

Talos raised it's sword to smash Zoe. Then it froze. The hand turned around and reared back so fast it whacked it's own face. Talos was being controlled by Bianca. But Bianca was no driver. Talos went straight through a set of power lines.

Thalia's eyes widened. "NNNOOOO!" She screamed.

Luke jumped her, pushing her down and behind a mound of junk as Talos exploded outwards. The shockwave blew apart the whole thing and power lines were scattered across the junkyard.

The giant was scattered from the top down: his head, his chest, and finally, his legs were each several metres apart. They reached the wreckage and searched frantically, yelling Bianca's name. They crawled around in the vast hollow pieces and the legs and the head. They searched until the sun started to rise, but no luck.

Zoe sat down and wept. Luke was stunned to see her cry.

Thalia yelled in rage and impaled her sword in the giant's smashed face.

"We can keep searching," Luke said. "It's light now. We'll find her."

"No we won't," Thalia said miserably. "It happened just as it was supposed to."

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

She looked up at him with big watery eyes. "The prophecy. One shall he lost in the land without rain."

* * *

( _Twenty four hours later_ )

Percy woke up, and the first thing that hit him was the smell. It smelled like barnyard animals, which was strange to say the least. He quite clearly remembered passing out in the middle of D.C. As he woke, he frowned. He also remembered lying on the road, not a woollen bed. He heard sheep making those weird sheep noises and heard a horse screaming bloody murder.

Yeah, the last one got him straight up. He frowned, listening carefully.

'F*cking Human! F*ck you!'

SPLASH!

He heard a bucket of water being emptied, presumably on the horse.

He ran outside the bright red coloured barn and towards the sound of the horse. As he went, he noticed his surroundings, which had drastically changed since the last time he had been conscious. Either he slept throughout an apocalypse and into a new age, or someone brought him elsewhere. Probably the latter.

What truly surprised him was the equine creature who spoke. Instead of a horse, there was a pitch black pegasus in the stables, being washed and scrubbed by a middle aged man who was balding in the middle of his head. Percy frowned. How did a human get his hands on a pegasus? And more importantly, why didn't the pegasus just leave if it wanted to. It could.

Slowly, he approached it. Instantly, the Pegasus detected him. 'Hey you! Trespasser!'

Percy halted. "I'm not trespassing."

The pegasus neighed in delight. 'You can understand me?! That means you're Perseus!'

Percy paused. "Yeah ... I am.". He wondered how the pegasus knew his name, but many creatures did, so it wasn't that much of a stretch.

The pegasus neighed happily. "Great! Let's go!"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Go where?"

"Wherever you want, Boss."

The demigod looked at the pegasus oddly. "Okay. Sure. How fast can you fly?"

"Pretty f*cking fast. Definitely over Mach 3!"

Percy shook his head and climbed the pegasus. "How does a horse know about Mach speeds anyway", He grumbled.

"Allright, let's go uh ..."

"Blackjack."

"What?"

"My name, Boss. It's Blackjack"

Percy nodded. "Sure, why not. Could you take me to Mt. Tam, California?"

"Orthrys? Sure!"

The horse barrelled through the stables and took off, blowing away the remains of the stables behind. When they got high enough, he flew faster.

Now, to Percy, this was pretty okay. Like driving a car at forty miles an hour for a human. But even then, it was amazing. Blackjack had to be _the_ fastest pegasus ever, because such fast pegasi were unheard of. He wondered if it was a god in disguise.

A few moments later he abandoned the thought. 'Naahh! Couldn't be.'

Blackjack dive bombed when they approached an airplane, narrowly missing the right wing of the airplane. The pegasus was lost in thought. _'According to the last two chapters, Artemis is still stuck under the sky. We need to help her.'_

Percy thought more about this special pegasus. It seemed to be more intelligent and more powerful than it's predecessors. Evolution, maybe?

Just then, he heard screeches.

A giant flock of Stymphalian birds approached him.

He shook his head. Time to play. He took out his dual blades and locked his legs onto the pegasus. He got an idea though. The birds came at him in a straight line. "Blackjack! Go as fast as you can!"

The pegasus shot forward at unbelievable speeds. The air around them compressed as the pressure dropped. A funnel of thick air condensed around them in a ring before ... BOOM!. Blackjack went supersonic.

Percy's blades sliced through the birds like butter. Every bird was dead before it even knew anything. "Goddamn!" Percy exclaimed. He hadn't expected the pegasus to be supersonic. Not that he minded.

The flying horse shot through the clouds, causing the clouds to thicken and thunder to rumble. Percy kept his blades in front of his face, the clouds separating at it's touch.

Up ahead, he could see Orthrys. "Let's do this shit!"

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* * *

 **Apologies for the late update. I sort of hit a writer's block. Expect frequent-ish updates from now on.**

 **By the way, please review. I need to know how you guys found Darkstorm as a villain. Is he evil enough?**

 **P.S - Darkstorm is a completely made up villain. I literally made it up while writing.**


	7. One Shall Fall

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _The pegasus shot forward at unbelievable speeds. The air around them compressed as the pressure dropped. A funnel of thick air condensed around them in a ring before ... BOOM!. Blackjack went supersonic._

 _Percy's blades sliced through the birds like butter. Every bird was dead before it even knew anything. "Goddamn!" Percy exclaimed. He hadn't expected the pegasus to be supersonic. Not that he minded._

 _The flying horse shot through the clouds, causing the clouds to thicken and thunder to rumble. Percy kept his blades in front of his face, the clouds separating at it's touch._

 _Up ahead, he could see Orthrys. "Let's do this shit!"_

* * *

( _At Hephaestus's Junkyard_ )

If one looked upon the junkyard, they wouldn't actually notice if something was amiss. Even if there was a gigantic robot whose insides were scattered over the place. Nearly three hundred metres from the remains of Talos, a young girl lay crumpled amongst the scrap metal. Her clothes were torn up due to the metal and the silvery glow around her faded to almost nothingness.

The sky rumbled as a figure in black armour landed harshly in the area. The scrap metal around him was blasted several feet away due to the surrounding shockwave. His golden cape fluttered aimlessly in the wind as he made his way to her. Acknowledging the fallen demigoddess, he turned around so his back faced her. Sighing, he removed his helmet, placing it on a small mound of metal and proceeded to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

"Tell Kronos I've got her."

The demigoddess slowly stirred from her unconscious state. The first thing that hit her was the headache. It sucked. She frowned when she saw a man in black armour standing in front of her. What was that he said? Something about Kronos? She wondered.

 _"Will do, Lord Darkstorm."_ A slithery voice came from the earpiece. But Bianca's heritage meant enhanced senses. She could hear the conversation.

Bianca had never heard of a Darkstorm. Was it a codename?

He wasn't a god. That much she knew. As a child of Hades, she could feel for godly power. Not that she knew that. All she knew was that the man before her didn't seem as godly as Artemis. His voice seemed rather human.

Darkstorm almost wanted to turn around, but he shook his head. "Not yet." He muttered. Putting back his helmet on, he turned and raised his leg, delivering a punishing blow to the demigoddess, knocking her out instantly.

"Well that's done."

With one hand, he hoisted her on his shoulder and bent down in a kneeling position, or rather, a position to get ready for a sprint. The next moment, Darkstorm vanished in a black-gold blur, shattering car windows and rear view mirrors as he ran through the cities, making sure he got to Orthrys quick enough.

* * *

( _With Zoe Nightshade and Co._ )

The group now consisted of Zoe, Thalia and Luke. Perseus was assumed dead by now and Bianca too, was dead or as Zoe thought, 'missing in action'. It did seem easier to think about. Maybe the two of them got lost. Foolish hope, but what else could they do? Finally, they reached the top of the mountain.

"My lady!" Zoe rushed forward, but Artemis said, "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."

Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. The weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis. Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis's protests, and tugged at the chains.

A booming voice spoke behind them: " _Ah, how touching._ "

Everyone turned. A being was standing there behind them. Luke knew for sure this had to be Atlas ... in his brown silk suit? At his side were Ethan Nakamura and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Bianca kneeled at Ethan's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and Ethan was holding the point of his sword to her throat.

The questers were both happy and sad. Bianca lived!, but she was in terrible shape. Extremely terrible shape. Her eyes were red and one of the eyes was swollen shut. There was a slap mark across her cheek and a handprint around her neck. Her clothes were in tatters and frankly she wouldn't have looked much different even if she was stark naked. The silver glow around her was completely gone. It was almost as if she wasn't a hunter anymore.

Zoe's eyes widened. She knew what they did to her. "THIS IS CROSSING THE LINE FATHER!".

Luke jumped in shock. "Atlas is her father?", he asked Thalia, who merely told him to shut up. She too, had noticed Bianca's sorry condition. Her fists sparked with electricity, and without thinking, she charged Ethan. The demigod didn't expect her to charge at him, so naturally he swung at her, trying to catch her off guard. But Ethan severely underestimated the daughter of Zeus. If Luke was _the_ best swordsman in Camp, then Thalia was _the_ best spear wielder. She deflected the blade and rammed Aegis into his stomach, making the demigod double over.

Stepping behind Bianca, she swiped her spear, expertly sliced off the Celestial Bronze handcuffs. Using the momentum of cutting the handcuffs, Thalia swung the spear hard at Ethan, making a resounding CRACK! against his ribs.

The demigod was sent crashing into a boulder, cracking it ever so slightly.

Meanwhile, Luke had foolishly engaged Atlas, who was the only other threat there. Luke might have been as skilled as the titan, but sadly he was severely outclassed in the strength department. Every attack Luke dodged nearly sent him toppling over due to the air rushing at him from the attack. Whenever Atlas struck the ground with his spear, small cracks appeared. As a son of Hermes, his inborn speed kept him alive, dodging everything the titan threw at him.

Unfortunately, everyone makes mistakes. Luke's mistake was antagonising the war god two years ago. His blade grew heavy in his hands and his slashes became sluggish. Atlas's next attack was coming. Panicking, he dropped the sword and rolled in the opposite direction, narrowly escaping the life of monster food.

In his distraction, Atlas managed to come up with a follow up attack, sending Luke into the side of the mountain. Luke groaned as he tried to get up. A three-inch deep imprint of his body was left on the side of the mountain. He looked at the titan, who was taking his own sweet time coming at him. He knew there was no way he could beat Atlas.

He glanced at Artemis. Maybe she could.

He counted to three before rolling to the side and leaping away from the titan and towards Artemis. Without saying a word, he slashed out her chains and pushed her out. Artemis was roughly shoved aside before she could even protest the fact that Luke could most likely die trying to hold the sky.

"Oh well", she muttered. Two hunting knives appeared in her hands as she leaped towards the titan.

Luke could never explain the weight of the sky. It was unbearable and he was sure he would've snapped in half if it weren't for Thalia who rushed beside him and helped. Zoe was continuously firing arrow after arrow at her father, who merely smacked them away. Some which hit him bounced off his armour. Others hit non lethal areas only. The fight wasn't going good.

Above them, the clouds cleared and a beam of yellow light smashed into the titan at full force.

" _AAARGH!_ " Atlas screamed in pain as the light burned his skin.

When the light stopped, everyone gasped. Standing there in the middle was none other than Apollo. The sun god was in battle armour, with a bow in his left hand. The bow itself was a wonder. The bow seemed to be made of solid metal while the string was thick, stronger than the sinews of a bison.

Atlas's eyes burned with fury. The burnt skin quickly regenerated, closing up his wounds. " _YOU DARE INTERFERE?!_ "

The sun god wasn't in a jolly mood. His eyes glowed yellow, contrasting the night sky. "You made a mistake when you took my sister."

Faster than thought possible, Apollo dashed towards Atlas, his bow morphing into a war-hammer. Using the momentum, he took a thunderous swing at the titan, lifting him into the air and sending him crashing and tumbling down the mountain.

"It'll take a while before he climbs ba-AGH!"

A black boot suddenly impacted his stomach. The sun god felt a sharp pain in his gut as he flew across the area, hitting the floor and then rolling two times over before coming to a stop. The sun god groaned as he got up. That was one strong kick.

Suddenly, in front of him, a man in black armour appeared. His face was covered with a spartan helmet, but something was very wrong. The plume wasn't red, it was shining gold. There was also a golden cape fluttering behind.

"Darkstorm?! You're not supposed to be alive!" Apollo exclaimed. He had frankly never seen this being for a very long time and was hoping he was dead. This being was too powerful for him. Only his father had managed to beat him, and even that was a surprise attack.

" **What? And miss the opportunity to destroy Olympus? Not a chance.** "

Quicker than Apollo could think, Darkstorm landed a thunderous right hook to his face, followed by his left fist into his chin, lifting the god a bit into the air. Here came the unbelievable part. While Apollo was mid-air, Darkstorm kicked his chest so hard that the god went head first into the side of the mountain, with his legs sticking out of the rocks, trying to get out.

Artemis's eyes widened. Darkstorm took out Apollo like he was nothing. She had to be careful. Silently, she crept behind the being, then lashed out out with her two hunting knives which impacted between the chinks of the black armour.

To her horror, he bled. But not golden ichor. She was utterly surprised when red _mortal_ blood flowed out of his wounds. "A mortal?! But how?" She exclaimed.

An enraged Darkstorm backhanded the goddess hard and fast enough to flip her twice mid-air before painfully being smashed to the ground by a metallic black boot. Through the blackness of his helmet which covered his face, Artemis could see his eyes which glowed an ethereal green.

" **Not mortal. Only half.** " Darkstorm said. His voice had lost some of it's power. Her symbols of power had done some damage. At least there was that.

"Impossible!" The goddess snarled. "No demigod is that powerful. In fact, nobody is that powerful!"

Darkstorm's eyes glowed brighter. " **Do not be so sure, goddess!** "

Just before he could inflict any further damage on the goddess, he was suddenly thrown into the air, his shoulder part of the armour dented. With a painful grunt, he stood. A black pegasus neighed and stomped it's hooves as the rider got off, holding a pitch-black sword in his hand.

Darkstorm laughed a little. " **Ah yes. I've been expecting you, Perseus.** ". He looked at the pegasus. " **Hello, Blackjack.** "

The pegasus neighed in surprise. Silently he thought, ' _Does this guy also know we're in a fanfiction? How does he know who I am? More importantly, how come I don't know who he is? I know everyone in this fanfiction!_ '

Percy readied his blade. "Round two, Jackass."

Darkstorm didn't say a word. He merely dashed forward at incredible speeds. Faster than Percy could even think about moving his sword, he was hit with the force of a freight train. Just like Apollo, he went straight into the mountain, crashing headfirst and then dropping to the ground.

A frightened Blackjack shot off to the skies. " _Aw man! I liked Rick Riordan's version better. This particular chapter was a lot simpler! ... but then Lukey boy would be on the evil side, so let this be."_

Percy's eyes widened as he struggled to get up. He still had no way to counter Darkstorm's speed. He had no clue what to do. All his attacks met thin air and every time Darkstorm would appear beside it. Somehow, he always dodged it.

Darkstorm was merely toying with him and Percy knew it. He managed to take out two Olympians within a minute. Percy knew he was gonna have to figure out something fast.

While he lunged at Darkstorm, he noticed something. He wouldn't dodge in a regular manner. It was almost as if Darkstorm casually walked to the side and allowed the blade to miss him. It scared Percy because of the sheer speed involved, but it also meant that his opponent severely underestimated him. He wouldn't be paying attention.

Controlling the earth wasn't a power Percy used often, nor was it a power he could easily control. It barely came under Poseidon's domain due to him being the Earthshaker, but Percy focused on it anyway.

Not expecting an underhanded tactic, Darkstorm roared in pain as sharp spikes erupted from the ground and pierced through his boots.

Not wasting time, Percy slashed at the armoured man at his midsection, but all it did was leave a tiny scratch on the armour. Percy's eyes widened. The armour looked really light, and yet it was able to completely shield the wearer against a direct attack by a Celestial Bronze blade. There was also the strange fact that Darkstorm refused to pull out his sword. Was Percy really that outclassed? Was he so easy to defeat that the man in front of him didn't even need his sword?

He looked at Darkstorm's boots and saw red blood spilling out.

"What the?" He was a demigod?!

It angered Percy to be defeated by a demigod. He was one too but he knew he wasn't that weak! Not so weak that his opponent didn't need a sword! He felt a little tug in his gut. The ocean on the other side churned and started to sway the enemy ships left and right. Darkstorm merely glanced back and as if by magic, the waves stopped crashing into the ships. The water calmed down almost instantaneously.

Percy didn't notice that but Artemis did, and she was beyond surprised. Darkstorm had to be a child of Poseidon! ... But she shook her head. He may very well be a child of Oceanus too. It would certainly explain his attendance during the first great war between the gods and the titans. But then humans didn't exist at the time! For all she knew, it could be another person in the same armour. Yes, that had to be it.

Regaining her bearings, she stood and charged at the armoured figure from behind, hoping to impale him again.

Sadly, her target merely turned his head before bringing his knee up and smashing it into her wounded stomach. Golden blood spilled out of her mouth by the sheer force of the kick.

While he was distracted by Percy and Artemis, Apollo had gotten out of the mountain and he managed to land a blow on Darkstorm's chest-plate with the side of his bow. Percy could only imagine his surprise when Darkstorm didn't even budge.

The god's eyes widened. "What the? That's impossible!"

" **Apollo ... you were never even half-decent in close quarters.** "

Darkstorm merely flicked his wrist and both gods went flying against a black marble pillar. What shocked them to the core was that they found themselves completely immobilised. Like how gods would sometimes telekinetically toss around mortals.

"HOW?!" Artemis shrieked. Both gods were beyond terrified.

"There was no way he should be able to do this! Even Zeus can't do this to us!" Apollo exclaimed.

Without saying a word, Darkstorm dragged Percy to the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Stretching his hand, he ripped a golden piece from the top of the coffin and plunged it straight into the demigod's heart.

Percy's eyes widened and a gasp escaped his lips as the golden shard pierced straight through his skin and entered his heart.

Meanwhile, Zoe was firing down at Atlas to keep him from reaching the top of the mountain. Her eyes widened when she heard flesh being pierced and momentarily stopped firing at Atlas from the edge of the mountain. She gasped in horror upon seeing Percy impaled in the heart. Her eyes turned to Darkstorm who merely dusted his hands and then suddenly disappeared in a golden streak.

She heard the sound of rocks cracking and gasped as her father reached back to the top. When she stopped shooting at him, the titan was able to climb up without his hands being shot.

She rolled away as his palm tried to swat her away. But the next one got her when the titan kicked her across the palace like a football.

Atlas smiled, looking at the fallen forms of Percy and Zoe. "And that's two goals for the titans. What a shame, it's not even half time!"

He cracked his neck and turned around, only to be sent flying towards Luke and Thalia who held the sky.

" _NOOO!_ " He yelled as he crashed into them, sending them tumbling out of the weight.

For a moment, the pillar supporting the sky remained mid-air before suddenly falling. On instinct, the titan lifted his hands and stopped it. Several bones cracked due to the immense weight, but they quickly healed, and Atlas was once again stuck under his old burden.

" _NOT AGAIN!_ " Atlas yelled. " _I JUST GOT FREE! NOOO!_ "

Artemis and Apollo stood in thirty feet from Atlas, their weapons in their hands. Artemis was utterly exhausted while Apollo looked battered up but still relatively alright. The god frowned, looking for Darkstorm. "Where did he go?"

He looked at his sister, who stared in front of her with shock. "Uhh, Arty?"

Frowning, he followed her path of vision before his eyes landed upon a fallen Percy who had a hole in his chest. Red blood leaked out of it like a river emptying itself into the ocean. eyes widening, he rushed to him and carefully looked inside. A golden shard the size of his palm was inside. But when he reached to take it out, the shard dissolved into the blood.

Not bothering, he raised his palm and showered Percy with golden light. Artemis did the same. Within seconds, the wound was closed.

Zoe had momentarily regained consciousness and managed to drag herself towards the three people. Luke and Thalia couldn't move due to their muscles being completely damaged in all aspects. They also had cracks in several bones.

Bianca crawled over too, despite her condition.

Artemis looked like she was about to cry. "H-He's dead."

Apollo looked at her oddly. "No he isn't. Hear carefully, there's a heart beat."

Heaving a sigh of relief, she sat down, only to notice Zoe's broken form next to her. "Zoe?!"

The daughter of Atlas looked weary. Her silvery glow was gone, indicating that her life force was fading. In simple terms, she was dying.

The goddess sobbed. "NOO!"

While she was kept captive, Darkstorm told her Zoe and Bianca would both die. Hell, he even told her that it would be Atlas who killed Zoe. Somehow, he was spot on correct. Atlas's final blow to her dealt a massive amount of damage to her.

Being near the Garden of the Hesperides gave her a little extra strength to face her father, but it wasn't enough. In the end, the prophecy would come true.

Despite knowing that, Artemis desperately blasted silvery light at her lieutenant, trying to heal the broken bones and ruptured organs. But nothing happened. It was as if the body refused to heal itself. Artemis knew she could heal her lieutenant. She had healed worse injuries than this. This time though, all her powers and godly experience amounted to nothing when she couldn't heal simple organ failures.

Apollo sighed sadly. The Fates had cut Zoe Nightshade's string. You could call Asclepius himself and he wouldn't be able to heal the huntress.

He looked at Percy, who was still unconscious. Judging by the heartbeat and the waves emitted by his brain, Apollo knew he was in a coma. There was nothing he could do now, except take him to his palace, where he could be treated better.

For now though, they had to retreat. There were enough losses for the day. He stepped away from Percy and looked up. A golden beam of light engulfed them all and suddenly they disappeared. Just in time too, as the entirety of Kronos's army surrounded the palace of Orthrys.

* * *

 **Sorry this took a little time.**

 **Pls review.**


	8. Winter Solstice

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _He looked at Percy, who was still unconscious. Judging by the heartbeat and the waves emitted by his brain, Apollo knew he was in a coma. There was nothing he could do now, except take him to his palace, where he could be treated better._

 _For now though, they had to retreat. There were enough losses for the day. He stepped away from Percy and looked up. A golden beam of light engulfed them all and suddenly they disappeared. Just in time too, as the entirety of Kronos's army surrounded the palace of Orthrys._

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Almost three weeks and there was still no word from Perseus. Chiron scratched his beard. He had heard what happened. Although they had managed to rescue Bianca di Angelo and Artemis both, the mission had almost failed.

The gods were silent. They refused to leak any details of the mission to Chiron. Something that worried the centaur greatly. What exactly happened at Orthrys?

The demigods rested at Camp Half-Blood.

Chiron worried for Luke. The young man trained ceaselessly at the Arena. He must've seen something.

The centaur was broken out of his thoughts when the dinner horn sounded. Sighing, he exited the Big House.

Dinner was not very eventful. However, many noticed the absence of Luke Castellan. Nobody said anything though. His absence didn't go unnoticed by Chiron, even if the Hermes table was overcrowded. He decided to speak to Luke after dinner.

(After Dinner)

The centaur sighed again as he entered the arena. It was littered with straw. There was no sight of the practice dummies. "At least those dummies won't be bothering anyone."

Luke turned around to face his mentor, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Chiron."

Chiron stared at Luke. "We missed you at dinner. What happened? Training too hard?"

Luke shook his head. "Not hungry. I want- ... I _need_ to train."

"For what? Slicing up unarmed straw men?"

Luke frowned. "You weren't there, Chiron. At Orthrys. You don't know what happened."

The centaur nodded. "Of course. Neither you nor Thalia have even bothered to give me the mission report, something that you need to do at the end of any quest."

Luke looked slightly apologetic. "Sorry Chiron. I haven't had the time."

"Well. You have time now. What happened at Orthrys? What did you see that drives you to train like this?"

Luke sighed. "I- Where do I start? It's all messed up!"

"Just tell me the events as you see fit."

The son of Hermes nodded. "Alright. After the group left camp, I took Annabeth's hat and followed them. I uh ... needed to keep an eye on Annabeth and Thalia."

Chiron smiled. "I'm sure that was all you wanted to do."

Luke blushed like a tomato. "And then ... at a coffee shop in D.C, Thalia kinda found out."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "You were invisible. How did she find out?"

The demigod blushed redder. "I uh ... sort of bumped into her? Accidentally."

"So let me get this straight. You were invisible and you bumped into the person you were following, by 'accident'?"

"Yes. I mean, NO! I didn't. I was following her, and she stopped suddenly. Not my fault."

Chiron smirked. "Of course. Please continue."

Luke heaved a sigh of relief, glad to change the topic. He would've exploded if he turned any redder. "And then, the Nemean Lion appeared-"

(Thirty Minutes Later)

"And then Apollo raised his hand and frowned and we all landed in the throne room. Kinda funny. All of them jumped in their seats."

"What did they say?" Chiron asked.

Luke frowned. "Nothing much. They rushed to heal Perseus.". His voice was slightly bitter.

Before Chiron could say anything, Luke continued. "I sort of get it that they don't visit us, but how come they show him so much favouritism?! Hermes would never do that for me, the way he was so sad and all! I can't believe it!"

Chiron laughed. No. I mean, he literally laughed out loud in Luke's face.

The demigod's eyes narrowed and his blood boiled.

Chiron stopped a little. "Do not misunderstand me Luke. I'm laughing at you. Not at your predicament, but at your thoughts."

Luke's fist opened. "Huh?"

"My boy, do you honestly believe your father cares so little for you?"

"Yes."

Chiron's eyes narrowed. "No. You're wrong. He cares for you and your siblings more than you could ever imagine."

Luke scoffed. "As if."

Chiron frowned. "Luke. Tell me this. Do you have any idea why I don't teach? I run this camp and I organize many things, but never will you see me training a lone demigod in private."

Luke didn't answer. He had no answer.

"I can't have favourites. They always die. Do you understand me, Luke? I cannot keep continuing the cycle of having to train that student for years and then losing that student. I simply cannot do it. But Hermes cannot do that. You are his son. Despite what you might think, he hasn't abandoned you. Look around. Look around carefully. In your happiest and saddest moments, you will see your father."

* * *

At the Camp borders, a hooded figure appeared. This unknown person carried a sack across their shoulders, entering the borders as quietly as possible.

"Ahem."

Then, the most girlish scream possible was emitted from said person's mouth as their hood came off, revealing one Annabeth Chase.

Chiron stood there in his centaur form towering over the demigoddess.

"WHO DARES- ... Oh. Annabeth? What are you doing out of your cabin?!" Chiron demanded.

The demigoddess was lost for words. "I uh ... was ... visiting the city!"

Chiron frowned. "Where is your pass?"

Annabeth looked everywhere but Chiron. "I ... lost it. Some monsters attacked and it got lost in the fight."

The centaur shook his head. "Very interesting story, Ms. Chase. You must tell me more about it ... in my cabin! Tomorrow morning!"

Annabeth cringed. Chiron was a little upset.

The centaur stared at her. "What are you standing there for? Back to your cabin! Now!"

The demigoddess quickly ran to her cabin, avoiding the harpies.

Once inside her cabin, Annabeth tiptoed to her bunk, setting the sack she carried onto the floor slowly. Without making too much noise, she opened it and rummaged through it until she found what she was looking for. It was a sleek black laptop. A small one.

Making sure no one noticed, she switched it on, dimming the brightness to a minimum. She cringed when the laptop made a sound as it switched on. She glanced at her snoring cabin-mates, thanking every god and goddess she knew for not letting any of them wake up due to the sudden sound that occurred at the Windows icon when the laptop started up.

When the laptop finally booted up, which took ages, Annabeth opened a private browser window and began to search.

'The first titan war'

There were an innumerable amount of search results, most of it was utter rubbish, like Zeus single handedly crushing the entirety of the titans or in some cases, the titans making peace with the Olympians.

Annabeth sighed. She decided to take a risk. She took out a flash drive which was given to her by Luke. He claimed that it allowed any laptop to connect to the Olympus network. So she plugged it in.

Almost immediately, the laptop's screen changed. The browser covered the entire screen and a 'Welcome!' message filled the entire screen before disappearing. She sighed in relief and got to work.

The search results were much more encouraging this time. She used a combination of searches.

'History of the Titanomachy'

But it was more of the same. Annabeth didn't understand. The flash drive was plugged in wasn't it?

'The first titan war'

It was then that she remembered what Luke had told her about the quest. He said that some being had appeared, and Apollo knew him. He called him ... Darkstorm. So she searched that name.

'Darkstorm'

Annabeth was definitely intrigued now. The images of the being looked like they were taken straight out of a comic book. His armour was black, with hints of gold here and there. The armour looked really light, and could've passed for leather if it weren't for the clear metallic finish on it. The figure was covered head to toe in said armour. However, Annabeth noticed one thing. The armour, gauntlets and boots seemed to be made out of one material, whereas the space between the shoulders and the elbows were different. Same goes for the area below the hips and above the shins.

She raised an eyebrow at the Spartan helmet which sat on his head with a golden plume instead of a red one. A cape was attached to his armour, which was almost entirely gold, but there were black strands interwoven in it, reducing the glare from the cape.

Shaking her head, she exited the site and opened a different link. The same. The next ten websites showed her the same picture, so she concluded that, whoever Darkstorm is, he's real. Ten different websites cannot tell you the exact same thing, unless they all copied from the same source, in which case Annabeth would be wrong, but she didn't feel that Olympian internet would be as crazy as the mortal one, with all sorts of fake information in it.

She decided to dig more information about said person. Someone who could supposedly destroy Apollo and Artemis in single combat.

The information she found was ... scary, demoralising, whatever you want to call it. According to the gods, Darkstorm was a being who first appeared just before the titan war. Annabeth frowned. There was no mention of Darkstorm being a demititan or demigod. Did the gods not know? According to Luke, Darkstorm was attacked from behind by Artemis and later injured a little by Perseus. He swore up and down that he bled red, not gold.

He also said, and I quote 'He[Darkstorm] moved faster than Apollo could finish his sentence. The last person I saw going that fast was my father.'

Annabeth wondered how fast he was. Shouldn't Hermes be able to match him? He was the god of speed after all. Luke was proof enough of that. He's the only living son of Hermes who had not inherited his father's sneakiness or silver tongue. Not even his light fingers. Luke was the only one who got his father's speed.

It was one, but not the only reason he was the best swordsman in Camp right now. She doubted whether even Thalia could defeat him. As a child of the big three, Thalia was much faster and much stronger than your average demigod, but Luke seemed to be even faster. Although, he did lose last time they sparred.

She yawned loudly, waking Malcolm. Before the sleepy boy could see the laptop, Annabeth slammed the lid close and violently shoved it under her bed.

She sighed in relief as he went back to sleep. Then she did the same. That night, Annabeth had nightmares about the golden cloaked monster.

* * *

( _Olympus_ )

Olympus was in an uproar due to recent events.

Zeus slammed his bolt to the ground. "SILENCE! YOU WILL SIT DOWN ON YOUR THRONES RIGHT NOW! OR CONJURE UP A CHAIR AND SIT IN IT! WE SHALL CONDUCT THIS MEETING WITH SOME ORDER DAMNIT!"

The gods were still nervous. Apollo and Artemis were both sitting on their thrones with a pained expression. More from the humiliation than the actual pain. He glanced at the middle of the throne room. The floor was bloodstained with a mixture of red and gold. Perseus was in a water bubble which was floating a few feet off the ground.

Some gods were openly staring at the demigod. His armour was shattered at the breastplate where the golden shard had entered, and a gaping hole was right above his heart. Even then, blood flowed out of the wound at a phenomenal rate. Apollo reckoned that the only thing keeping him alive was the fact that he was in a body of water.

Athena spoke. "Father. I don't know how it is possible for Darkstorm to grow this powerful. He was never this powerful. I don't know any deity who could grant him such power."

"Yes.", Poseidon spoke. "According to Apollo, he was able to perform feats only possible with the aid of godly energy ... something that a demigod can only access minute amounts of. Even then, no god should have been able to do this either. The only theory I can come up with is that he may be the mortal offspring of a protegenoi."

Zeus's attention was caught rather sharply. "What?!", he hissed.

Athena seemed to agree. "What Poseidon is saying could be right. It would certainly explain his strength and his control of immortal energies."

Hermes's eyebrows raised, looking at his half sister. "Our reign really is coming to an end."

Said wisdom goddess glared at him.

"Alright, okay. By Chaos! You guys have no sense of humour!"

Usually, his jokes would've at least made the other gods crack a smile. This wasn't 'usually'.

Dionysus, for one, wasn't reading his wine magazine or dozing off on his throne.

Athena stood and waved her hand. In front of Perseus's water bubble, a holographic screen appeared, showing a map of the United States and the surrounding water bodies. "Kronos has already assembled most of his armies. He is only waiting to regain his own strength and for the rest of the titans to do so as well. Scouts say he's already amassed an army of almost twenty million regular monsters and five hundred thousand powerful monsters. Every single one of his brothers have aligned with him and they also have Darkstorm, someone who we still don't know much about."

The goddess sighed.

" _We_ have two legitimate armies. That too, only if Hades cooperates. The armies of Poseidon and all the dead in the Underworld. There aren't many demigods alive at the moment. There are roughly about sixty in Camp Half-Blood and almost forty-five in Camp Jupiter. The rest are only legacies. We do have several other gods to help us, but it's safe to say that most of them have joined the enemy."

Hephaestus stood shakily, with one hand holding a stick. The god seemed to look older, and even had a white beard. "That's not all. We still have the thousands of automatons planted all over the world. They could be of some use."

Ares stared at the forge god incredulously. "A couple thousand automatons aren't going to even dent Kronos's army."

"Oh they will. These were made specifically for that, remember?"

Artemis clutched the armrest of her throne and stood. "Then we'll have to make do. Right now, our primary concern should be catching Darkstorm and killing him."

All the gods nodded unanimously.

Apollo stood. "Darkstorm has to die. A person of such power who doesn't need to obey the divine laws? He needs to die first."

Zeus nodded, about to flash out, before something caught his attention. "Wait. speaking of divine laws, you broke them by directly interfering in an ongoing quest."

Apollo looked taken aback. "What? Kronos would've gotten exactly what he wanted if I hadn't interfered!"

Athena took interest. "Oh, what's that?"

Apollo glared at the wisdom goddess. "A bargaining chip you idiot! He would've used Artemis as a bargaining chip!"

"There's something you should know, Apollo. What I just did, it's called sarcasm. Ever heard of it?"

"Why you fu-"

"ENOUGH!"

Zeus glared at both his children. "Apollo, I'll deal with you later. After we defeat Kronos."

* * *

( _Orthrys_ )

Outside the palace of the titans, where Atlas stood once more holding the sky, where two gods were soundly defeated by a mere mortal.

Darkstorm stood near the edge of the mountain, watching a screen hovering in front of him.

He turned to look at an empousai who shivered as he spoke. " **Fetch Iapetus. Now.** "

She nodded, catching a small glimpse of the screen he was watching. She gasped as she slowly ran to deliver the message to the titan.

On the screen, she saw the gods. Sitting in a bright room. A throne room. _The_ throne room.


	9. Injustice

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _Outside the palace of the titans, where Atlas stood once more holding the sky, where two gods were soundly defeated by a mere mortal._

 _Darkstorm stood near the edge of the mountain, watching a screen hovering in front of him._

 _He turned to look at an empousai who shivered as he spoke. " **Fetch Iapetus. Now.** "_

 _She nodded, catching a small glimpse of the screen he was watching. She gasped as she slowly ran to deliver the message to the titan._

 _On the screen, she saw the gods. Sitting in a bright room. A throne room. The throne room._

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Luke swung his sword as hard as he could, decapitating he bronze statue of Hermes.

"Ouch. What'd I ever do to you?"

Luke turned around, eyes widening. "Dad?"

Hermes stood there grinning. "Hello Luke."

The god opened his arms, which was why he was surprised when Luke decked him across the face. Hermes's head snapped to the side, leaving a bruise on his cheek.

"Okay, I'll give you that one, just because it's partly my fault.". Then the god's eyes glowed. "But don't you ever try that again."

Hermes cleared his throat and cooled himself before speaking. "We need to discuss a few things."

Luke shrugged. "Like what? How you abandoned me with that crazy woman who is also my mother? Or how I nearly died getting to Camp?"

Hermes sighed. "Luke I-"

"Save it!" Luke snarled. "I prayed to you every single damn day, and you did nothing. Absolutely NOTHING!"

"I did. How else do you think you met Thalia Grace? She was the best gift I've given you."

The demigod's eyes narrowed., and his breath grew short as he tried not to punch his father again. "Don't talk about her like she's some possession. She's a person!"

Hermes sighed. "Yes. I know that. I-"

"You're unbelievable. You know that?"

"Luke, I thought you'd understand after-"

"After what?!" Luke said. "What did you think? One conversation with Chiron and we'll be cool?"

Hermes was about to say something, but stopped. "You know what, Luke? This conversation is just making us both lose our cool. I ... I want you to come with me."

Luke frowned. "Where?"

"Somewhere that's not this Camp. Is that alright with you?"

Luke sighed, his anger receding. "Okay. Fine. Let's go."

(Six Hours Later, New York City)

The Bank of America was a large glass building which towered over the other buildings. A crowd had gathered around it. Many reporters holding mics stood in front of the glass doors and gave monologues in front of a camera, occasionally asking questions to the bank employees.

"-s you can see, the employees are absolutely shaken. None of them has a clue of how this impossible heist was performed. The camera tapes are being carefully looked through by the F.B.I, who have just arrived on the scene-"

To the side, two figures stood. One wore a business suit. He was older, around thirty-five. The other was a nineteen year old who wore jeans and a an orange t-shirt with the initials C.H.B on it.

"This was nice, Dad."

"I know it was. This is the richest bank in the city!"

Luke smiled. It wasn't what he meant, but he didn't say anything. Performing a heist is the dream of any son of Hermes. Doing that said Heist with their father? Pure joy. This didn't change much between him and Hermes. Luke was still angry at his father for his ignorance, but, if today was anything to go by, Luke recognized the sincerity. Hermes was one of the busy gods. Taking out half a day just for him wasn't easy, and Luke definitely appreciated it. So he decided to cut his father some slack, and give him a chance.

Hermes looked at his son proudly. He had performed his first bank robbery!

"Alright son, what next?"

Luke frowned, scratching his head in thought. "Well ... there are some jewellery stores around. We could buy something."

Hermes glared at him. "No son of mine will spend money on jewellery! We are going to steal!"

A while later, the duo entered a jewellery store, wearing black masks over their faces, covering their hair too. They wore gloves as well. But they used no weapons.

Luke rolled into the store and hid behind the counter as quickly as possible. He then took out a pen Hermes had given him. At the non writing end of the pen was a laser. Not the cheap laser lights you get in markets, but real laser that can cut through solid steel.

He clicked it and quietly took out the CCTV in the store. Then, he and Hermes knocked out all the people inside before taking whatever they wanted and leaving.

* * *

( _Olympus_ )

Apollo's Palace gleamed a bright gold as the sun shone across the streets of Olympus. The sun god was in the intensive care unit of his palace, tending to Perseus, who was still comatose after all this time. None of the gods seemed to know what to do.

Sighing, he left the palace. Zeus had summoned a meeting.

At the meeting, Apollo didn't pay much attention to Zeus, rather, he thought of different subjects, one being his friend's health.

"-ollo. APOLLO!" Zeus shouted.

The sun god was suddenly snapped out of his reverie. "Yeah, what?"

"I said, any updates on Perseus's condition?"

Apollo looked down. "No. No change at all. For some reason, his wounds refuse to heal. Even a regular demigod should've been at least half alright by now. I don't get it."

Artemis frowned. "I do."

Zeus looked at her. "Care to share?"

"I ... saw Darkstorm stabbing Percy with a golden shard. I think it was from Kronos's sarcophagus."

The elder gods shot out of their seats and yelled "WHAT!" simultaneously.

Athena's eyebrows raised comically. "Wow."

Zeus glared at Artemis. "You couldn't think to tell us this before?!"

Poseidon cursed like a sailor. "Shit. Shit. Fucking SHIT!"

Zeus and Poseidon immediately left the throne room and flashed to Apollo's palace, forcibly entering despite the wards against teleportation. Apollo followed soon after, with Artemis, Athena, Ares and the rest.

The corridor outside the intensive care unit wing was shattered as Zeus and Poseidon broke the magic in Apollo's palace. Poseidon kicked open the golden door, sending it flying off it's hinges. The Olympians entered the room to see the demigod's state not changed a bit.

They all circled the bed.

Zeus looked at all the other gods. "On my count, you will all hit him with your energy. Try and remove the titan's essence from the body."

The gods who arrived all raised their hands in the direction of the demigod.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Hit him now!"

Golden beams of light simultaneously emitted from the gods' hands, striking the demigod's body.

At first nothing happened. Then the gods stopped. Zeus frowned. Everything was the same.

Suddenly, all the gods present dropped to their knees, feeling weaker by the second. It lasted for half a minute, and they were exhausted when they stood.

Athena gasped. Percy's body was completely healed. Not one scratch left. She looked at his arms. His veins were glowing gold. Immediately she knew what happened. Somehow, his body subconsciously stole a portion of their energy to heal itself.

The demigod's eyes snapped open, and a violent explosion ensued, throwing all the gods against the wall, breaking all of Apollo's equipment. The gods immediately recovered and pointed their weapons at the demigod, but he was gone.

The bed was gone, snapped into many pieces. The floor under it was cracked and there was a large hole in the roof.

Zeus cursed. "Athena, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes. Find him and bring him to the throne room."

Poseidon frowned. "Brother. What is the need for all this? I'll talk to him."

The king of the gods clenched his jaw. For a moment he actually considered Poseidon's decision, but he shook his head. "No. He attacked the council of the gods! Bring him in chains!"

Ares was more than happy. The god glowed gold and then disappeared.

Apollo cursed. "Let's go. Ares alone could never take him."

The four gods glowed gold and they too disappeared.

It took the gods a few seconds to pinpoint Percy's location. After all, he had just absorbed power directly from the gods.

They found Percy hovering over a building. Rockefeller Centre. Artemis frowned. Hovering? How? As far as she remembered, Percy could NOT fly. Jump really high? Sure. Not flying.

The demigod suddenly dropped in front of a statue. Apollo frowned. Not good. It was a statue of Atlas holding a globe.

The five gods, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Athena and Hermes stood in a line some twenty metres away from Percy. For a while, he stared at the statue, before turning around.

At first, Athena was a little happy. "He's fine. Come on, let's go Percy."

The demigod didn't move.

He squinted at the gods and suddenly he could see their infrared signatures. Ares was emitting a large amount of heat.

Hermes frowned. "He's not okay. Hey! Percy!"

The demigod cocked his head to the side a little. "You've been calling me Percy. Is that who I am?"

The gods groaned.

Ares shook his head. "Forget it, I'm bringing him in."

The war god unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Percy. The demigod looked at him, a little confused.

The sword heated up, before a large blast of energy emitted from it, flying directly at the demigod. Instinctively, Percy tilted his body to the side, making the energy blast shatter the globe Atlas was carrying.

When he turned around to look at the war god, his eyes were glowing green. Ares gulped.

Athena's eyes widened. "PERSEUS! NO!"

The demigod raised his hand, pointing it at Ares. A bright green continuous beam of energy emitted from his palm, striking the war god in the chest. The beam didn't stop until the war god's armour started to melt.

Ares screamed in pain as the energy beam tore apart his skin. After what seemed like eternity, which was really only a few seconds, Ares dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Athena had her spear and shield out, while Apollo took out his war-hammer. Athena looked at Apollo. "He doesn't know who he is! He's confused. Restrain him!"

"Please don't make me do this." She put her shield in front of her, to scare the demigod.

The demigod merely frowned at the shield, not understanding why the woman in front of him stood so funny.

Athena's nearly slapped herself. Of course. Percy had seen the shield enough times to be fully immune to it's effects. She charged at him along with Apollo, making sure she went for a non-lethal blow.

Percy threw a punch at her. The sheer power behind it made her put her shield up to block it rather than do anything else. The punch would've shattered the shield and hit the goddess square in the face, but the shield was unbreakable. Instead, the punch sent her flying through the air until she landed on a pavement.

Apollo had no shield. The god took the punch to the chest and was sent flying so far away that Athena could no longer see him.

Artemis stepped forward, holding Celestial Bronze chains. She spun it and threw it at Percy. But at the last possible second, the demigod stuck his right arm outwards, catching the chain. It wrapped around his arm, but it never reached his body.

'Oh well.'. Artemis thought. She tugged at the chain, expecting the demigod to come flying towards her when she did. Imagine her surprise when he didn't move. Eyes widening, she pulled it again with a lot more strength, using both hands. Percy didn't budge.

Then he started to pull. Artemis's only thought was 'Oh shit' as she was slowly being dragged forward. She dug her heels into the ground, causing to the ground to cave in like sand on a beach.

Artemis had only one option left. She tried to jog his memory.

"Perseus, son of Poseidon. Remember who you are!"

For a moment, the demigod's grip on the chain slacked.

Artemis thanked Chaos. "Remember who you are. Tell me who yo-"

Suddenly, Percy used his left hand too and yanked the chain with both hands. The goddess lost balance and was thrown to him. She would've crashed into his body, but his right hand let go of the chain when she was mid-air and grabbed her neck.

Almost consecutively, Apollo attacked him from the side with his hammer. Without looking, Percy used the other hand to stop the weapon in it's tracks. Athena put her shield in front of her and dashed at the demigod at full speed, smashing the shield into his chest. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when his body didn't budge even a millimetre.

She kept pushing, however. The demigod turned his head towards her, his teeth clenching.

Hermes, who hadn't participated so far, decided that enough was enough. He decided to end it.

He took a deep breath and used his domain of speed. The god of speed ran to in a semicircle, hoping to go behind Percy and hit the demigod before he even knew what was happening. He wanted to speed blitz him. He very fast, each step only taking a nanosecond to cover.

Hermes kept an eye on the demigod as he ran around him. But when he got directly beside him, the demigod's eyeballs suddenly shifted right, looking directly at Hermes. Hermes's eyes widened comically. He increased his speed further, but Percy's head turned around too, looking at Hermes in the eye.

The demigod threw off the three gods who had attacked him and swung his fist at Hermes. But Hermes was still slightly faster. He suddenly ducked, narrowly dodging the powerful attack.

Hermes suddenly went ten times faster, smashing the demigod in his chest. Percy stumbled. His bare chest was a little bruised.

Hermes did it again, but this time, the demigod reacted more quickly, smashing his knee into Hermes as the god came at him. Hermes lost control of his speed and went flying straight into a building.

Time flowed normally again for Percy. Artemis and Apollo, who were mid-air during his fight with Hermes, fell to the ground. Athena suddenly found she was pushing thin air and she stumbled before tripping and falling.

But all three gods got up quickly and charged the demigod, taking him much more seriously. This time, they fought with their full godly speed and strength. Even then, the demigod fended off their attacks easily.

A sudden blast of power from Percy threw them all backwards, making craters in the pavement. Athena groaned in pain.

Ares, who was groaning in pain till now, stood up. Percy floated to him and backhanded the god into a car. He then lifted the god whilst holding his lower jaw. "You. I don't like you.". The demigod's grip tightened, crushing Ares's jaw. The god let out a not so godly whine as his jaw turned to powder. Percy flung the god aside and dropped to the ground.

Before the demigod could do anything else, a trident embedded itself right in front of him. He looked up to see Poseidon floating in the air. "ENOUGH! Stand down!"

Percy glared at Poseidon, a slight hint of recognition in his eyes. "I know you!"

Poseidon frowned. "Obviously. I'm your father, Percy."

The demigod tore at his hair, frustrated. "I-Who am I?!"

Poseidon sighed. "If you come with me, I can show you. I can restore your memory."

The demigod suddenly clutched his head in pain. "NO! Go AWAY!"

He charged Poseidon. The god merely blinked and suddenly Percy stopped. No, he literally stopped mid-swing, as if he was frozen with ice.

Percy's eyeballs still moved. They kept looking around. Poseidon sighed. He tapped his finger on Percy's forehead and the demigod went to sleep, still in his standing position. Poseidon then erupted into golden light and disappeared, taking Percy with him.

Hermes landed in front of Apollo. "WHERE IS HE?! COME ON PERCY! ROUND TWO!"

Athena shook her head. "Fight is over. Poseidon arrived."

Hermes laughed. "So where are they? How did he stop Percy?"

Apollo sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Hermes scoffed. "Like what? He blinked and ended the fight?"

None of the gods answered. Hermes's eye widened. "No fucking way! He blinked?! What the-*************************************************************************************************************" **(* = insert cuss words)**

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 **( Author's Note)**

 **Sorry for the horrendously long time I took to update. Here's an extra chapter, though.**

 **So, if anybody was wondering, yes, Hermes was going faster than light and yes, Percy shouldn't be able to react to that level of speed but all will be explained.**

 **Also, if you're wondering how he kicked everyone's ass at the same time, then please note that this Percy doesn't know himself. He isn't holding back at all. This is Percy without any morals whatsoever. Also, the gods (except Ares) were trying to restrain him, not kill him. They were holding back at first.**

 **Since a bunch of you have started to PM me about the pairing, fine. I'll do it. Just write in the review section who you'd prefer Percy to be with. And please, let the pairing be something that's possible and within character. Any demigoddess is fine. Some goddesses. (No gay stuff. I'm not against gay people but this Percy is NOT gay).**


	10. Darkstorm Unmasked

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _Percy's eyeballs still moved. They kept looking around. Poseidon sighed. He tapped his finger on Percy's forehead and the demigod went to sleep, still in his standing position. Poseidon then erupted into golden light and disappeared, taking Percy with him._

 _Hermes landed in front of Apollo. "WHERE IS HE?! COME ON PERCY! ROUND TWO!"_

 _Athena shook her head. "Fight is over. Poseidon arrived."_

 _Hermes laughed. "So where are they? How did he stop Percy?"_

 _Apollo sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."_

 _Hermes scoffed. "Like what? He blinked and ended the fight?"_

 _None of the gods answered. Hermes's eye widened. "No fucking way! He blinked?! What the-*************************************************************************************************************" **(* = insert cuss words)**_

* * *

The throne room was a mess. As soon as Poseidon brought Percy back to Olympus, Zeus had his bolt out and aimed it at Percy. "HA! So the traitor shows his face!"

Poseidon rolled his eyes. "Calm down. The sudden surge of energy into his body and the forceful removal of Kronos's essence must've screwed with his head a little. Give him a few hours, he should be fine."

Zeus didn't look happy about it, but his brother had a point.

The demigod was placed in the centre of the throne room, still in his immobile state. The demigod tried his level best to get free, and he would have, but one look from Poseidon and his muscles stiffened again. If this was Percy in his right mind, he would have realised that Poseidon merely commanded all the water in his body to stop. Percy then would've tried to wrestle back control of his body.

But this Percy had almost zero knowledge about anything. His mind was still deep fried by godly energy and he needed to heal. The demigod looked around the throne room, his eyes darting around, taking in every detail, seeing the gods in their towering fifteen foot forms. He recognised nothing. He knew that he was supposed to know these big people, but his mind refused to dig through his memories.

Zeus glanced at Percy and then back at his brother. He noticed the demigod simply staring everywhere. "How long is he going to be like this anyway?"

Poseidon shrugged. "Don't ask me. Does it look like I send godly energy into my children everyday and then bring them up to the throne room?"

Zeus shifted in his seat. "It would explain what happened. How would you explain that, brother? How did he steal our powers?"

Poseidon didn't answer for a while. He frowned, and looked more closely at his son. Without looking at Zeus, he replied. "It seems that his body subconsciously took the amount of power needed to heal itself. Nothing more. Nothing less."

Zeus shook his head. "No. Right after that, this demigod destroyed five Olympians in single combat without weapons or armour. I think he absorbed more power than you think."

Poseidon sighed. "You are preaching the choir, brother. Even I do not know, or understand how this has happened."

Zeus wasn't convinced. "The safest thing to do now is to-"

Poseidon's head snapped towards Zeus. "Careful how you finish that sentence, brother. Careful. Don't forget that you too have demigod children on Earth. Most of which are very close to water bodies."

Zeus suddenly appeared in front of Poseidon, leaving a trail of electricity.

Poseidon held his hand up. "Wrong time and wrong place, brother. I'm sure you wouldn't want your throne destroyed?"

The king of the gods turned back to see Poseidon's trident hovering over his throne, ready to destroy it at a moment's notice.

Zeus grumbled and returned to his seat.

Poseidon sighed, looking at Percy. "I've done many things in my immortal life. I've done many good things, but I've also done some bad things. But I'll never do what you or Hades do. I never go after your children, no matter what. Do you want me to do so?"

Zeus opened his mouth to speak, but Poseidon was on a roll. "Since day one you've been obsessed with Perseus. Don't lie to me. You knew about his unique powers, didn't you? That's why you tried to have him killed at first. But later, you decided to make him partially immortal."

Zeus didn't answer. He glanced at the demigod. "It's been so long since that day. Believe me, Poseidon, I really do regret sending those assassins."

Poseidon scoffed. "Sure, sure. Just like you regret killing scores of mortals down below, nearly wiping them out once ... or even better, that one time when you and the others actually did destroy an alien race. Obliterated their entire species without a second thought."

Zeus stared at his bolt. "We were all young and naive. We all thought we could rule with fear. Including you and I. So don't lecture me about the destruction of a planet when you are just as guilty as I am. You even told a mortal all about it. Didn't you? That's how that planet showed up in some blasted comic book."

Poseidon chuckled. "Believe it or not, that was not my idea. And, secondly, I did not participate in that incident. It was only you and the others."

Zeus glared at his brother. "We didn't slaughter them!"

Poseidon laughed dryly. "You teleported onto their planet, announced to them that their end had arrived and you killed them all. Sounds a lot like slaughter to me. I don't know if there's a word to describe what you did there. Genocide? No no. This was more than a billion of them. I don't think genocide will cut it. Ah yes, got the word. Xenocide."

Zeus scoffed. "Those aliens were dangerous and you know it. They had the potential to-"

"Scare you? Kind of obvious, brother. But did you bother to use your brain, for once. If you had, then you would know that their abilities were given by some deity. And those abilities could have been harmlessly taken away, without killing them all. But you decided to swing your electric cock at them and now-"

"Now no one dares invade our planet, and none of the pantheons would dare to start a war with us. What more do you want?!"

Poseidon sighed. "Still bothered about that. Do you really believe Odin is going to be so idiotic and attack again? After we crushed them and laid siege to Asgard? That defeat should and will stay in their memories till the end of time. Destroying a defenceless planet full of mortals is not going to strike fear into any god's heart."

Before Zeus could retort, he noticed the demigod in the centre of the room. He cursed himself. At least the demigod's mind was so screwed up at the moment that when it finally healed, he would have temporary amnesia.

"We'll talk about this later. Now isn't the time."

Poseidon glanced at his son. "Agreed. For now, I'll take him to Atlantis."

Zeus frowned. "Fine. You can take him."

Poseidon scoffed. "Thank you, _your Majesty_ , but you can take your permission and shove it. He is my son. I'll take him where I wish."

With that, the sea god disappeared from the throne room, along with his son.

Zeus glared hard at Poseidon's throne, electricity dancing around his eyes.

* * *

( _Atlantis_ )

The sea god appeared in his throne room with a bright flash and a gust of heat, making the water bubble.

He let Percy float around the room for a while, before the demigod finally opened his eyes.

Poseidon smiled. "How are you feeling, Perseus?"

The demigod looked confused, before his eyes widened. "Dad! We need to rescue Artemis and Apollo! They're being held by this being who calls himself Darkstorm! We need to stop Atlas!"

Poseidon chuckled.

The demigod's eyes narrowed. "Didn't you hear me?! I said we need to finish the quest! Send me to Orthrys!"

"Percy. The quest is long over."

The demigod frowned. "Huh? How long was I out?"

Poseidon sighed, putting on a very serious face. "Thirty years."

The result was legendary. The demigod screamed "WHAT?!" at the top of his lungs, shaking the pillars in the throne room.

Poseidon laughed.

Percy glared at him. "Not funny. How long was I really out?"

Poseidon slowly was able to stop laughing and finished with a chuckle. "Well, you really were out for a while. It's been nearly a month."

Percy frowned. "A month? It's not so long, but what of the quest?"

Poseidon cleared his throat. "Well, the quest was more or less a success, but Darkstorm's return is disturbing news. Now normally Zeus and I would just pinpoint his location and incinerate him to cinders, but he seems to be quite ... competent."

"But you guys have faced much worse!"

"True.", Poseidon nodded. "But none had his intelligence. Don't mistake his arrogance for ignorance. Even now, we don't know who he is or what he wants. What we do know is that he wishes to eliminate us, and for now, that's all that matters."

Percy contemplated about telling something to his father, but refrained.

Poseidon noticed the tormented look in his son's eyes. He desperately wanted to say something.

"Whatever it is, Percy, say it."

The demigod sighed. "It's something that happened to me during the quest. When we were in D.C, I had to take on the spartoi, who left me alone thinking I was dead. When I came to, Darkstorm was right there."

Poseidon frowned. "But why? How come he didn't kill you?"

"That's the thing. He kept saying that we knew each other and that we'd fought before, but I honestly have no clue who this guy is. That day was the first time I'd met him."

Poseidon was surprised, but not surprised enough. He wondered if Darkstorm knew Percy's secret. A secret which Percy himself didn't know. His special powers. It was then that the sea god understood. Darkstorm wanted Percy for something, otherwise he would have killed him then and there. He was more than capable of it. Did he want to use Percy for his powers? Or did he want Percy's powers itself? Poseidon didn't know which of these he wanted, but the mystery was clearing up. But Darkstorm's claims bugged him. How were they related?

"I see ..." The sea god muttered, something which Percy found odd. Why wasn't Poseidon surprised? Honestly, he expected a WTF! from his father.

"Something you want to tell me, father?" Percy asked, a suspicious hint in his tone.

Poseidon cursed internally for being careless. "Of course not. Now, please follow the mermen behind you. They'll show you to your room."

The demigod nodded, sure that his father was hiding something. "Of course.". He turned to the mermen. "Lead the way."

* * *

( _Orthrys_ )

The palace of the titans was not exactly in the best of shapes, but it wasn't the ruined rubble it was years ago either. Leaning against a half-built pillar was a figure wearing black jeans and a plaid shirt on top. He'd look like a regular mortal, if it weren't for the bright red irises and almost shining silver-white hair which came to his neck.

A flash lit the area briefly, and another being stepped out, head to toe in golden armour. Said being glanced at the casually dressed figure. "What happened to the armour, Darkstorm?"

Darkstorm looked at his clothes, then at the figure. "What? Don't like plaid, Hyperion? I have an errand to do. A long one."

The titan, Hyperion frowned. "Are you sure about this? There are plenty of demigods we could use. You don't need to go yourself."

Darkstorm gave a dry chuckle. "Sure I do."

"They are loyal to us. We control them. They will not dare try anything foolish."

Darkstorm gazed at the titan in a way which made him feel like an idiot. "Really Hyperion? They will be neck deep in Olympian territory, and they are all less than fifteen years of age. Do you honestly believe they won't snitch?"

He propped off the pillar and began walking around. "In a few months, July to be exact, the demigods will discover an entrance into their little hideout via the Labyrinth. Soon, their shitty oracle will recite a quest for them and they will select a few demigods to finish it. Now, I'm pretty sure you know that one of them will be Perseus. The other will be some thundering idiot probably, and lastly ... will be me."

The titan smiled. "Perfect."

Darkstorm stared at Atlas, who held the sky. The titan of strength struggled to keep the entirety of the earth's atmosphere aloft. The titan glared at them. "YOU NEED ME! I AM YOUR BEST WARRIOR! HOW DARE YO-"

Hyperion flinched as Darkstorm suddenly appeared in front of Atlas, catching his jaw, refusing to let him finish his sentence. Even now the titan couldn't believe his power. Being second in place only to Kronos, Hyperion's eyes could barely see a blur as Darkstorm dashed forward. The amount of control needed to suddenly stop was unbelievable.

Darkstorm cocked his head as he stared at Atlas in the eye. "You are lucky to be under the sky. Had I not arrived to bail you out, Apollo, Artemis and Perseus would've taken you to Zeus. And we both know that would be so much worse than this."

He stepped away, shoving the titan's face to the side as he did. "I still cannot believe you couldn't even set up the anti-teleportation barrier. We would've had one less god to deal with. Thanks to you, I intervened, and now Olympus probably knows of my involvement and are looking for me."

Darkstorm sighed, reappearing before Hyperion, startling the latter. "I want you to personally sweep our armies for any weak links or spies. Inform the others of my locations. And months later, when I tell you to, attack Camp Half-Blood before the oracle even issues a quest."

Hyperion nodded. "Of course. But ... what about Perseus?"

Darkstorm frowned. "What about him?"

"I heard some ... rather disturbing things."

Darkstorm's interest was piqued. "Such as?"

Hyperion hesitated, noting Darkstorm's sudden interest. "Apparently, he fought and defeated four or five gods in the New York City. My scout says they were Olympians."

Darkstorm was surprised and happy. "Really? Quite interesting, I must say. Hmm ... interesting indeed. It seems my little experiment has produced some results. Hopefully he'll do better in our next encounter.". The last part he said to himself, but the titan heard it.

Hyperion frowned. "Why would you want him to be stronger?"

Darkstorm smiled in such a way it unnerved the titan, making him feel nervous. "Well, the next time we meet, he will be _very_ confident. Oh, very confident indeed. And you know how it is- twice the strength, double the fall!"

Hyperion would never admit it, but Darkstorm's sudden mood shifts from nearly stoic to borderline insane made him extremely uneasy. He reminded himself how utterly unpredictable Darkstorm could be. Like a madman.

When Hyperion looked back at him, Darkstorm's demeanour had changed back to normal. "Alright. Before I can even dream of entering that camp, we'll need to prepare a few things. Firstly, does _that_ thing work?"

* * *

( _Olympus, Palace of Pallas Athena_ )

Most who didn't know Athena would expect the wisdom goddess to be holed up in the corner of a library stuffing her face into ancient texts and battle plans. Well, it's a good thing most people's expectations don't matter.

In reality, the wisdom goddess enjoyed fresh air and open environments. Contrary to popular belief, she didn't hide all her knowledge in a secret vault somewhere. Instead, she preferred to impart her knowledge unto the unlearned.

But that's not why she was sitting on the front steps of her own palace. The wounds caused to her by the demigod known as Perseus had already healed minutes after the battle, but her pride was conflicted.

On one hand, she was proud that the student surpassed the teacher, etc. But as a goddess, her reputation was hurt. A demigod not only bested her, but her backup as well. Perseus trashed the five gods like they were fodder and she knew it.

She took solace in the fact that his sudden extreme power was only due to his body absorbing powers from the Olympians in Apollo's palace. Hopefully those powers were spent.

She looked up, hearing footsteps. It was Artemis.

Athena smiled. "Sister. What brings you so far up here?"

Artemis frowned. "What do you mean? Olympus is my home."

Athena shrugged. "I would argue that the forests are your home, seeing as you visit Olympus only for the solstices."

Artemis sighed. "The hunt can manage without me for a while. I'm not their babysitter. I'm their leader."

"Right. Anyway, what brings you here? I'm curious."

Artemis chuckled. "Aren't you always?"

The wisdom goddess sighed. "Did you find out anything about Perseus's condition?"

"I'd say his condition is really good, given that it took Poseidon to stop him."

Athena rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. His mind."

The moon goddess went to reply, but for the briefest of moments, her eyes turned gold. In a robotic fashion, she turned to Athena. "You've forgotten something, Athena. Let me make you remember."

Before Athena could react, Artemis lunged at her. Pinning the goddess down, she placed her hands on either side of Athena's temple. The wisdom goddess screamed as various images were forced into her mind.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N: This is to the Guest who criticised the story because he/she thinks that the story is bad just because Blackjack can break the 4th wall. Also, Percy isn't as OP in this as you think. Sure, he's better than all the demigods, but Olympians can still beat him. Remember, that thrashing he gave the five gods is not permanent. He was powered up by godly energy and was going all out. The gods were holding back as much as possible since they didn't want to hurt him. This does not mean Percy can beat the shit out of Olympians. And the big three are still WAAAYYY out of his league.**

 **In any case, pls review. It helps me a lot more than you realise. Give your honest insight.**


	11. Overseas Contract

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _"I'd say his condition is really good, given that it took Poseidon to stop him."_

 _Athena rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. His mind."_

 _The moon goddess went to reply, but for the briefest of moments, her eyes turned gold. In a robotic fashion, she turned to Athena. "You've forgotten something, Athena. Let me make you remember."_

 _Before Athena could react, Artemis lunged at her. Pinning the goddess down, she placed her hands on either side of Athena's temple. The wisdom goddess screamed as various images were forced into her mind._

* * *

( _John F. Kennedy Airport, Manhattan_ )

Early January would be chilly, especially in a place like Manhattan.

Percy sighed as he leaned against his seat, looking out of the window in the aeroplane. He had just a single briefcase, which he kept above his seat. Why was Percy of all people using a plane?

A few days ago, he had gotten an urgent request from Athena. He didn't get many urgent requests from her, so he supposed it was something important. Apparently, she had a son, who was living in Netherlands. He agreed on one condition. That she pay for his flight ticket, which of course, he took First Class.

Percy wondered what was so special about him that he needed to be brought to Camp Half-Blood. He took his phone and opened his Gallery to find the photo Athena had sent him. Her son, some Pieter Jansen, looked about his age and had a similar facial structure but his hair was unnaturally silver-white and the ruby red eyes seemed to pierce the camera.

Percy frowned. Athena had mentioned that her son was like him, he too was partially immortal and according to her he should be around four hundred years old as of now. Percy thanked the gods he wasn't going to go pick up a newbie. At least this Pieter would be experienced, unlike the toddlers at Camp Half-Blood.

A voice buzzed through the speakers. " _Please pay attention to the screen in front of you._ "

Percy sighed. Every bloody flight.

He stared in boredom as the video showed various safety techniques, blah blah blah. He was very bored and very claustrophobic. He also felt uneasy being in the air for so long.

The flight was long, and the food was cold. The demigod made up his mind never to take this airline again. However, the entertainment systems were decent. So he plucked up a controller from his armrest and plugged in the headphones given by the flight. The headphones sucked by the way.

Again, Percy sighed. There were no good games except for a very old Super Mario Bros. So he selected that and played away.

For almost eight hours, Percy sat in his seat, literally doing nothing but playing Super Mario. His superior demigod reflexes allowed him to complete every single level on the first try. He briefly wondered if he should have started a career in gaming. He had the skills and the capital.

Then the pilot's voice came from the speaker. "Good Evening. Welcome to Amsterdam. It is 10:30 P.M CET. Pl-"

Percy didn't hear the rest. He unbuckled his seat belt and stood straight, stretching his arms and legs, yawning as he did. Cracking his neck, he took his briefcase from above and clicked a button, making wheels appear on the bottom and a handle on top, allowing him to drag it.

On his way out, he smiled at the air hostesses, not knowing whether their red cheeks were due to him or just part of their makeup. Knowing his luck, it was probably the makeup.

He had to admit one thing about travelling. If you travelled overseas, it always felt like stepping into another world. He liked that cultural diversity among humans. It kept things interesting.

The customs didn't take long. After all, he was a VIP passenger, under the name 'Percy Jackson', which the Dutch pronounced and wrote as 'Persy Jakson'. He felt 'Percy Jackson' was a rather catchy name, which he'd use for official purposes from now on.

As he walked through the Schiphol, which was the main airport in Amsterdam, he was stopped several times. Apparently, there was a man with a knife who had attacked several passersby within the airport. He let them check him. After all, they were only doing a routine job.

But what surprised Percy the most was the sheer number of monsters and demigods in the airport. Not only were they co-operating, but Percy could see some of them having fun. Was this how it was like outside of the U.S?

In fact, a lot of the guards and waitresses were all monsters in disguise. And it wasn't a malevolent conjunction of baddies, but just acceptance and harmony. They didn't attack anyone, and the demigods (legacies mostly) didn't attack the monsters either. Percy knew this, it wasn't a big shock, but hearing about it and seeing it are two very different things.

When he walked out of the airport, he was awestruck by the atmosphere. It wasn't like New York, where (no offence) people had a generally selfish attitude. You had to look after yourself.

He marvelled at the structures. Netherlands sure had changed since the last time he saw it. Well, the last time he saw it was during the second world war.

He looked at his phone, seeing the photo of Pieter Jansen. "Where are you?", Percy muttered.

* * *

'Pieter Jansen' stood outside of a small two storey house in Amsterdam. He cracked his neck and stepped closer. He squinted closer, and his vision turned into a mixture of black, grey and white.

The walls of the house became non-existent to him and he could see the skeleton frames of the residents inside. Four residents, he noted. He blinked and his vision changed, letting him see in a different frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum. Two of the residents had a thin aura around their body.

He smiled. Demigods.

Without bothering to step inside, he snapped his fingers. For a second, nothing happened, but the four residents inside felt an odd sensation in their body, before they went KABOOM!

Their bodies exploded outwards, as if a bomb was in them, splattering the walls, floor and the ceiling in red and their furniture redecorated with their internal organs.

He rubbed his hands in anticipation as he walked to the next house. In the lawn, he saw a kid playing with a puppy. A golden retriever puppy. The kid couldn't have been older than four, and his parents seemed to be inside the house.

Pieter scanned the house. The parents weren't demigods, but the woman was the biological mother of the small boy, who was a demigod. He snapped his fingers, exploding the parents in a similar fashion as he had done previously to the four residents in the opposite lane.

Pieter stared at the boy playing with the puppy. The boy was not only a demigod. He was a son of Poseidon.

What happened next would sicken even the most evil of men.

He strolled to the child, who stared at him in confusion. Walking towards the child, he picked up the puppy by it's tail, ignoring the frightened yelps it released. He then stared at the child in the eye, before raising the puppy above his head and smashing it onto the four year old boy.

The boy didn't stand a chance, and he died on the spot. Fortunately, so did the puppy. Or else he would have smashed it onto the ground again and again.

Pieter stepped back, dropping the half torn apart puppy onto the ground before stepping over it and walking away. It was late at night and in the suburban area of Amsterdam. No one was there to witness the horrific act.

He looked behind at all the other houses, whose windows were bloodstained. Looking at his hand, he frowned. "Damn it. Got bloody again."

He shook his hand in the air so fast that the blood flew off. He looked at his shirt and frowned. "Shirt got bloody. Oh well. I'll just say it's a monster attack."

Whistling merrily, he walked across the street, past all the houses whose insides were red.

* * *

( _Two Weeks Later_ )

Percy didn't have to look for long to find Pieter Jansen. The son of Athena was engaged in battle, against the ... Chimera.

Percy cursed. "Not now!"

The demigod ran at the Chimera at full speed and shoulder bashed it's face, sending it sprawling across the ground, and more importantly, away from civilians. Because for whatever reason, they seemed to be ... cheering?

Percy didn't even want to know what they were seeing. The demigod he was looking for, Pieter Jansen, was fighting a losing battle against the chimera, and Percy couldn't let that happen. Athena very specifically wanted him at Camp. Why she didn't go herself was beyond Percy. Perhaps they fought?

Percy had to admit one thing. The chimera wasn't an easy opponent. It's not like he couldn't defeat it, but he couldn't hold back. Not only was it fast, but it's middle head breathed fire which was hot enough to sting his skin, which surprised him to say the least, given that he could survive Hephaestus's flames (long story).

He decided he needed to be careful and he needed to keep the battle short. The chimera, unlike most monsters, learns it's opponent's attacks over time and can grow immune to certain types of attacks.

He tried to paralyse it using his water powers, but it didn't work. Pieter Jansen dived at him to pushed him out of the way. Percy cursed. The damn beast was immune to molecular manipulation.

So he did the next best thing. Water all around him, in the buildings and in the pipes erupted out and flew straight at the monster, entangling it. Before it could get free, he lodged his twin Celestial Bronze swords into it's two skulls on the right and left sides. Pieter Jansen sliced the middle head clean off using his own Celestial Bronze sword.

Percy gave a sigh of relief as he wiped the monster dust off of his face, and he looked at Pieter. "Don't die on me. I have a contract to get you alive."

Pieter Jansen frowned. "Did Athena set you up to this?". Pieter had a very distinct Dutch accent, similar to most northern Europeans.

Percy frowned. "How did you?"

"Dreams."

Percy nodded slowly, taking a good look at Pieter Jansen. Behind Pieter was a glass building. Percy could see his own reflection in it. He frowned, and looked back at Pieter. If he changed his hair to white and put red contacts, Percy knew he'd look just like Pieter.

"Are you sure Athena's your mom?"

Pieter nodded. "Confused by my facial features eh? My mother is Athena, no doubt. My father, however, is a son of Poseidon. So you see.". He pointed at himself.

Percy's eyebrows raised. "That's funny. Athena never mentioned that. Though I doubt she would. Wonder if dad knows?"

"Poseidon. He is your father, is he not?". Pieter asked.

Percy frowned. "Got that from dreams too?"

Pieter chuckled. "No. I have a picture of my father. He looks just like you. Most of us descendants of Poseidon look the same. But I fear that with my mother being Athena, there are some ... unforeseen effects.", the last part he said pointing at his hair.

Percy sighed. "Sorry. I'm just a bit jumpy that's all."

Pieter smiled. "It is okay. I am too. We must leave this place. Some unknown forces are hunting demigods here."

Percy frowned. "What?! Let's destroy it."

Pieter sighed sadly. "All of the demigods and legacies living in Holland have already been killed. Many of them were powerful. And they were killed. I urge you. We must go."

Percy shook his head. "No. At the very least, let's get evidence to show the gods. How the hell could they let this happen?!"

Pieter frowned. "Contrary to what you may think, the gods are not so benevolent as they seem."

Percy turned around to face Pieter. "I know that. It's just ... they do love their children. I know that. They even built a camp-"

"A camp?" Pieter asked, frowning.

Percy sighed. "You don't know? Camp Half-Blood, New York City. A safe haven for demigods to stay."

Pieter frowned. "We have no such thing here in Holland. I suppose they favour their American children more than others."

Percy shook his head. "Of course not. You should know better than that. America has a higher concentration of hostile monsters. Here, I've seen they're peaceful."

"True." Pieter nodded. "Yet that does not stop a few of them turning rogue, devouring a demigod or two every now and then."

Percy nodded. "Yeah well, contrary to popular belief, a few bad apples do not spoil the bunch."

Pieter smiled. "You are old. Like me. Your view upon this world is different. May I ask what time period you were born in?"

Percy laughed. "That easy to tell? I was born in Greece, around 500 B.C. You?"

"Not that long ago. I was born in the year 1869."

"1869? Must have some stories to tell, let's share it on the way to New York."

Pieter seemed to contemplate the offer. "I will come, but do not ask me to talk to Athena."

Percy nodded. "Okay. No forcing. I just need to take you to Camp Half-Blood."

Pieter smiled ominously. "Yes. I wish to see this safe haven you mentioned."

* * *

( _Goode High School, Luke Castellan's Point of View_ )

Normally I'd steal my way out of everything, but a recent incident (theft or prank, you name it) caused Chiron to ground me, take all my money. So here I am, teaching science to obnoxious fifth graders when I heard these noises outside.

SCRAWK! OW! SCREECH! 'HIYA!'

Like somebody was getting attacked by possessed poultry, and, believe me, that's a situation I've been in before. Nobody else seemed to notice the commotion. We were in the lab, so everybody was talking, and it wasn't hard for me to go look out the window while I pretended to inspect around the class.

Sure enough, there was a girl in the alley with her sword drawn. She was tall and muscular like a basketball player, with stringy brown hair and jeans, combat boots and a denim jacket. She was hacking at a flock of black birds the size of ravens. Feathers stuck out of her clothes in several places. A cut was bleeding over her left eye. As I watched, one of the birds shot a feather like an arrow, and it lodged in her shoulder. She cursed and sliced at the bird, but it flew away.

Unfortunately, I recognized the girl. It was Clarisse, my old rival from demigod camp. Clarisse usually lived at Camp Half-Blood year-round. I had no idea what she was doing on the Upper East Side in the middle of a school day, but she was obviously in trouble. She wouldn't last much longer.

I did the only the thing I could.

"CLASS DISMISSED" I yelled, jumping through the window. Thankfully, my demigod skin was durable enough to withstand the broken shards hitting against my skin.

I got to the alley just in time to see Clarisse smack a devil bird with the flat of her sword like she was hitting a home run. The bird squawked and spiralled away, slamming against the brick wall and sliding into a trashcan. That still left a dozen more swarming around her.

"Clarisse!" I yelled.

She glared at me in disbelief. "Luke?! What are you doing –"

She was cut short by a volley of feather arrows that zipped over her head and impaled themselves in the wall.

"This is my school," I told her.

"Just my luck," Clarisse grumbled, but she was too busy fighting to complain much.

I held my hand out and a metre-long bronze sword appeared in it (courtesy of Hermes), and joined the battle, slashing at the birds and deflecting their feathers off my blade. Together, Clarisse and I sliced and hacked until all the birds were reduced to piles of feathers on the ground.

We were both breathing hard. I had a few scratches, but nothing major. I pulled a feather arrow out of my arm. It hadn't gone in very deep. As long as it wasn't tipped with poison, I'd be okay. I took a bag of ambrosia out of my jacket, where I always kept it for emergencies, broke a piece in half and offered some to Clarisse.

"I don't need your help," she muttered, but she took the ambrosia.

We swallowed a few bites – not too much, since the food of the gods can burn you to ashes if you overindulge. I guess that's why you don't see many fat gods. Anyway, in a few seconds our cuts and bruises had disappeared.

Clarisse sheathed her sword and brushed off her denim jacket. 'Well… see you.'

"Hold up!" I said. "You can't just run off."

"Why the fuck not?"

"What's going on? What are you doing away from camp? Why were those birds after you?"

Clarisse pushed me, or tried to. I was too accustomed to her tricks. I just sidestepped and let her stumble past me.

"Come on," I said. "You just about got killed at my office. That makes it my business."

She scoffed. "Office? And is still isn't your business!"

"Let me help."

She took a shaky breath. I got the feeling she really wanted to punch me out, but at the same time there was a desperate look in her eyes, like she was in serious trouble.

"It's my brothers," she said. "They're playing a prank on me."

"Oh," I said, not really surprised. Clarisse had lots of siblings at Camp Half-Blood. All of them picked on each other. I guess that was to be expected since they were sons and daughters of the war god, Ares. "Which brothers? Sherman? Mark? Or someone more godly?"

"Yes," she said, sounding more afraid than I'd ever heard her. "My immortal brothers. Phobos and Deimos."

We sat on a bench at the park while Clarisse told me the story. I wasn't too worried about getting back to school. Screw the job. I could find other ways to earn money.

"So let me get this straight," I said. "You took your dad's car for a joyride and now it's missing."

"It's not a car," Clarisse growled. "It's a war chariot! And he told me to take it out. It's like… a test. I'm supposed to bring it back at sunset. But –"

"Your brothers carjacked you."

"Chariot-jacked me," she corrected. "They're his regular charioteers, see. And they don't like anybody else getting to drive. So they stole the chariot from me and chased me off with those stupid arrow-throwing birds."

"Your dad's pets?"

She nodded miserably. "They guard his temple. Anyway, if I don't find the chariot…"

She looked like she was about to lose it. I didn't blame her. I'd seen her dad, Ares, get mad before, and it was not a pretty sight. If Clarisse failed him, he would come down hard on her. Real hard.

"I'll help you," I said.

She scowled. "Why would you? I'm not your friend."

I couldn't help it. "I beat Ares before. I'm pretty sure I can handle a bunch of his sons."

Clarisse scoffed. "We both know that wasn't it. He let you."

I couldn't argue with that. I was trying to figure out how to explain a plan to her when a guy's voice said, "Aw, look. I think she's been crying!"

A teenage dude was leaning against a telephone pole. He was dressed in ratty jeans, a black T-shirt and a leather jacket, with a bandanna over his hair. A knife was stuck in his belt. He had eyes the colour of flames.

"Phobos." Clarisse balled her fists. "Where's the chariot, dickhead?!"

"You lost it," he teased. "Don't ask me."

"You little –"

Clarisse drew her sword and charged, but Phobos disappeared as she swung, and her blade sliced through the telephone pole. She sidestepped it, letting it crash to the ground.

Phobos appeared on the bench next to me. He was laughing, but he stopped when I stuck my sword's point against his throat.

"You'd better return that chariot," I told him.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll open you up balls to brain, to see what gods are made of!"

He sneered and tried to look tough, or as tough as you can with a sword under your chin. "Who's your little boyfriend, Clarisse? You have to get help fighting your battles now?"

'He's not my boyfriend!' Clarisse tugged her sword, pulling it out of the telephone pole. "He's not even my friend. That's Luke Castellan."

Something changed in Phobos's expression. He looked surprised, maybe even nervous. "The son of Hermes? The one who made Dad angry? Oh, this is too good, Clarisse. You're hanging out with a sworn enemy?"

"I'm not hanging out with him!"

Phobos's eyes glowed bright red.

Clarisse screamed. She swatted the air as if she were being attacked by invisible bugs. "FUCK OFF!"

"What the hell are you doing to her?" I demanded.

Clarisse backed up into the street, swinging her sword wildly.

"Stop it! NOW!" I told demanded, digging my sword a little deeper against his throat, but he simply vanished, reappearing back at the telephone pole.

"Don't get so excited, Lukey-boy," Phobos said. "I'm just showing her what she fears."

The glow faded from his eyes.

Clarisse collapsed, breathing hard. "You bastard," she gasped. "I'll… I'll get you."

Phobos turned towards me. "How about you, Luke Castellan? What do you fear? I'll find out, you know. I always do."


	12. Deus Ex Castellan

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _"You'd better return that chariot," I told him._

 _"Or what?"_

 _"Or I'll open you up balls to brain, to see what gods are made of!"_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Clarisse backed up into the street, swinging her sword wildly._

 _"Stop it! NOW!" I told demanded, digging my sword a little deeper against his throat, but he simply vanished, reappearing back at the telephone pole._

 _"Don't get so excited, Lukey-boy," Phobos said. "I'm just showing her what she fears."_

 _The glow faded from his eyes._

 _Clarisse collapsed, breathing hard. "You bastard," she gasped. "I'll… I'll get you."_

 _Phobos turned towards me. "How about you, Luke Castellan? What do you fear? I'll find out, you know. I always do."_

* * *

"Our commander wouldn't let us fight! Bullets raining all around us and he was like 'A soldier with a full stomach cannot fight. I command you to shit!'. Can you believe him?! The cretin!"

Percy laughed a little too loudly, garnering attention from the other passengers. He slowed down to a chuckle. "Holy shit. Thank the gods I'm not drinking anything now. Damn it Pieter!"

The son of Athena smiled. "So, what about you? Any interesting stories?"

Percy scratched his head. "Well ... there was this one time I accidentally teleported to Persephone's bedroom."

Pieter's eyes widened. "Impossible! What did you do?"

Percy looked aghast. "What'd you mean 'What'd you do?'. I teleported the fuck out of there, that's what I did! Imagine what Hades would've done if he caught me." Percy shuddered.

Pieter smirked. "Are you sure? You did not help yourself to a slice of godly fruitcake?"

"Dude!"

Pieter sighed. "You know what? I was one of the soldiers who took part in the siege of Berlin, to capture Hitler."

Percy's eyes widened. "No way! Me too! Bloody hell! Which front were you on?"

Pieter smiled. "The Belarussian front. First Division led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov. You?"

"I was with Ivan Konev at the Ukrainian front. First Division."

Pieter sighed, remembering the war. "Too many people died that day at Seelow Heights."

Percy shook his head in agreement. "Way too many. A million soldiers, out of which at least four hundred thousand were either demigods or legacies were deployed, but most died. The mortals died first."

"But," Pieter interjected, "we ended it there. That son of Hades killed himself didn't he? Stygian Iron bullet to the brain?"

Percy chuckled. "Hitler was always a coward. Even Hades didn't hesitate to put him in punishment, even though he's his son."

"How do you know?"

"Hitler's head was actually a contract given to me by Hades himself. He didn't want to kill his own son I suppose."

Pieter frowned. "Then why wait for the demigod forces of Zeus and Poseidon to encircle Berlin? You could have sneaked in. After all, your stealth is legendary."

Percy laughed. "The fact that it's so popular means that it's not legendary at all. But that's besides the point. Hitler, the bastard, had nearly ten thousand of his brothers stationed in Berlin itself. ALL of them can recognise a son of Poseidon. No way I was getting him myself. He even had anti-teleportation buildings and power dampeners, so I couldn't use most of my powers if I wanted to."

Pieter nodded. "True."

For a while, there was an awkward silence as neither of them knew what to talk about, so they simply leaned back in their seats. Percy used the entertainment system.

Pieter stared at Percy, his eyes narrowing. His ruby red eyes briefly glowed bright red before he composed himself and turned his head to the window, staring at the clouds. He took out a phone, but it didn't look like anything on the market. It was very sleek and had virtually no buttons, and the UI was different.

The white haired demigod opened an app, a messaging app, and typed a message.

'I'm in. Gather the armies and proceed to march on the Roman camp. I want Jason Grace alive.'

* * *

( _Luke Castellan's Point of View_ )

"Give the chariot back." I tried to keep my voice even. "I took on your father once. You're nothing."

Phobos laughed. "Nothing to fear but fear itself. Isn't that what they say? Well, let me tell you a little secret, half-blood. I am fear. If you want to find the chariot, come and get it. It's across the water. You'll find it where the little wild animals live – just the sort of place you belong."

He snapped his fingers and disappeared in a cloud of yellow vapour.

Now, I've got to tell you, I've met a lot of godlings and monsters I didn't like, but Phobos took the prize. Something about him pissed me off. Perhaps it was the smug face he had? The way Phobos laughed at me ... I felt like beating the shit out of him.

I helped Clarisse up. Her face was still beaded with sweat.

"Now are you ready for help?" I asked.

Now normally Clarisse would've pushed me aside and gone after them herself, but two gods are a bit too much. They may be minor gods, but they're gods nonetheless.

"Fine." She muttered, still reluctant for help.

"So, how's are these gods exactly? How do they work?"

She frowned. "Deimos is bigger and uglier, I guess. He's good at freaking out entire crowds. Phobos is more, like, personal. He can get inside your head."

"That's where they get the word phobia?"

"Yeah," she grumbled. "He's so proud of that. All those phobias named after him. The smug douchebag."

"So why don't they want you driving the chariot?"

"It's usually a ritual just for Ares's sons when they turn eighteen. I'm the first daughter to get a shot in a long time."

"Good for you."

"Tell that to Phobos and Deimos. They hate me. I've got to get the chariot back to the temple."

"Where is the temple?"

"Pier 86. The Intrepid."

"Really? War museum? I suppose it makes sense though."

"We've got maybe thirty minutes before sunset," I guessed. "That should be enough time if we can find the chariot."

"But what did Phobos mean, 'over the water'? We're on an island, for Zeus's sake. That could be any direction!"

"He said something about wild animals," I remembered. "Little wild animals."

"A zoo?"

I nodded. A zoo over the water could be the one in Brooklyn, or maybe… someplace harder to get to, with little wild animals. Someplace nobody would ever think to look for a war chariot.

"Staten Island," I said. "They've got a small zoo."

"Maybe," Clarisse said. "That sounds like the kind of out-of-the-way place Phobos and Deimos would stash something. But if we're wrong –"

'We don't have time to be wrong.'

Clarisse sighed. "But how? How can we get there in half an hour?!"

I almost felt insulted. "Hey! Son of Hermes? Super speed?"

"Oh. Right." She muttered.

I didn't use my super speed to travel much, mostly because it's really boring. I might be going faster than the speed of sound and I might get to my destination before you could finish a sentence, but the problem is for me. When I run fast, time goes slowly for me. So, I literally feel like I'm running all the way there at normal speed. It gets infuriating, but there's nothing I can do about it. Imagine running across a city at your regular pace. That's what I'm going to do now.

Clarisse frowned. "Wait, you aren't goi –"

I suddenly picked her up and ran. Inertia allowed me to keep a loose grip on her body, but it didn't allow her to fall off.

I still marvelled at the extremely slow movements all around me. I couldn't help creating mayhem along the way, ripping money out of people's hands at a coffee shop, or scratching lines on a car. I know we had only thirty minutes left, but for me, that's a lot of time.

A long while later, which was probably only a few seconds in real life, we reached Times' Square. Without slowing down, I took notice of the signs, which showed me the way to the ferry terminal.

Water. I suddenly stopped.

"ng to carry me across are you?!" Clarisse demanded. Then she noticed where we were. "What the?! WHAT?!"

I cringed at her voice. "Sorry. Now that's where we need to get to." I said, pointing towards Staten Island. Mortals couldn't see it from this distance, but a demigod's vision is much better than a mortal's. Thalia even claimed she could see the separate air molecules if she concentrated hard enough. But she was a daughter of Zeus.

Clarisse nodded. "So get us there! We don't have time!"

I looked at the water surface. Now I know in comic books, speedsters can run on water, but I've never actually put that to the test.

I felt like slapping myself. "Clarisse. Do you have a phone?"

The daughter of Ares looked at me disdainfully, before handing it over. "What for?"

I directly dialled up Annabeth's number. Thankfully, she picked up. "What do you want, Clarisse?"

"It's Luke!"

For some reason, her voice suddenly changed, becoming less bitchy and more friendly. "H-Hi Luke!"

"Listen, Annabeth. Could you tell me how fast I need go to run over water?"

I could imagine her frowning. "Well, ... you need to go just over Mach 1. Faster is better, but Mach 1 is minimum, or you'll sink."

I let out a sigh of relief I didn't know I was holding. "Thank goodness. You're the best Annie!"

I looked at Clarisse. "Let's go."

Without warning, I dragged her across and positioned myself on the docks before taking off. I dipped my hand, letting Clarisse's lower half submerge into the water as I ran across, just for kicks. After dragging her halfway down the island, past a lot of suburban houses, a couple of churches and a McDonald's, I finally saw a sign that said ZOO. I turned a corner and followed this curvy street with some woods on one side until we came to the entrance.

The lady at the ticket booth looked at us suspiciously, till I realised it wasn't us she was looking at, but behind us. How could she look at us? We were well above the speed a human can track with eyesight. I didn't dare to go supersonic in the zoo. Sonic booms in suburban areas are not good.

I suddenly stopped ad let Clarisse down. She glared at me, her pants dripping. "I'm not a mortal! I saw you purposely dip your hand lower, asshole. You'll pay for that!"

I gulped, and followed her. It was easy to forget, but demigods weren't as slow as humans, and I wasn't going full speed like before. Obviously she noticed.

We walked around the reptile house, and Clarisse stopped in her tracks.

"There it is."

It was sitting at a crossroads between the petting zoo and the sea otter pond: a large golden and red chariot tethered to four black horses. The chariot was decorated with amazing detail. It would've been beautiful if all the pictures hadn't shown people dying painful deaths. The horses were breathing fire out of their nostrils.

Families with buggies walked right past the chariot like it didn't exist. I guess the Mist must've been really strong around it, because the chariot's only camouflage was a handwritten note taped to one of the horses' chests that said OFFICIAL ZOO VEHICLE.

"Where are Phobos and Deimos?" Clarisse muttered, drawing her sword.

I couldn't see them anywhere, but this had to be a trap.

"I'll try to get the reins," Clarisse said. "The horses know me. Cover me."

"Right." I wasn't sure how I was supposed to cover her with a sword, but I kept my eyes peeled as Clarisse approached the chariot. She walked around the horses, almost tiptoeing.

She froze as a lady with a three-year-old girl passed by. The girl said, "Pony on fire!"

"Don't be silly, Jessie," the mother said in a dazed voice. "That's an official zoo vehicle."

The little girl tried to protest, but the mother grabbed her hand and they kept walking. Clarisse got closer to the chariot. Her hand had almost reached the rail when the horses reared up, whinnying and breathing flames. Phobos and another being, who I assumed was Deimos appeared in the chariot, both of them were dressed in pitch-black battle armour. Phobos grinned, his red eyes glowing. Deimos's scarred face looked ugly and horrible.

"The hunt is on!" Phobos yelled. Clarisse stumbled back as he lashed the horses and charged the chariot straight towards me.

Even with my super speed, I barely had time to jump away, landing on a rock island in the middle of the otter exhibit. I grabbed a bucket out of the pond and doused the horses with water, temporarily extinguishing their flames and sending them into confusion. The otters weren't happy with me. They chattered and barked, and I figured I'd better get off their island quick, before I had crazed sea mammals after me too.

I ran as Phobos cursed and tried to get his horses under control. Clarisse took the opportunity to jump on Deimos's back just as he was lifting his javelin. Both of them went tumbling out of the chariot as it lurched forward.

I could hear Deimos and Clarisse starting to fight, sword on sword, but I didn't have time to worry about it because Phobos was riding after me again. I sprinted towards the aquarium with the chariot right behind me.

"Hey, Lukey-boy!" Phobos taunted. "I've got something for you!"

I glanced back and saw the chariot melting, the horses turning to steel and folding into each other like clay figures being crumpled. The chariot refashioned itself into a black metal box with caterpillar tracks, a turret and a long gun barrel. A tank. I cursed. A fucking tank?!. Phobos was grinning at me from the top of a World War II panzer.

'Say cheese!' he said.

If it were a normal tank, I would have stood there for a few minutes (relative to me) and then casually dodged the tank shell. But this was way faster. I rolled to one side as the gun fired.

KA-BOOOOM! A souvenir kiosk exploded, sending fuzzy animals and plastic cups and disposable cameras in every direction. As Phobos re-aimed his gun, I got to my feet and dived into the aquarium. I figured it would neutralise the horses' flames.

I ran through the rooms washed in weird blue light from the fish tank exhibits. I stopped at the back of the aquarium and listened. I heard nothing. And then… Vroom, Vroom. A different kind of engine.

I watched in disbelief as Phobos came riding through the aquarium on a Harley-Davidson. I'd seen this motorcycle before: its black flame-decorated engine, its shotgun holsters, its leather seat that looked like human skin. This was the same motorcycle Ares had ridden when I'd first met him, but it had never occurred to me that it was just another form of his war chariot.

"Hello, loser," Phobos said, pulling a huge sword out of its sheath. "Time to be scared."

I raised my own sword, determined to face him, but then Phobos's eyes glowed brighter, and I made the mistake of looking into them.

Suddenly I was in a different place. I was at Camp Half-Blood, my favourite place in the world, and it was in flames. The woods were on fire. The cabins were smoking. The dining pavilion's Greek columns had crumbled and the Big House was a smouldering ruin. My friends were on their knees pleading. Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, all the other campers. Even Clarisse.

"Wake up, son". At first, the voice was very faint, but it grew louder. Until I felt energy course through me. Raw, powerful energy.

This was an illusion. Phobos was showing me my deepest fear.

I blinked and saw Phobos's blade coming down towards my head. I raised my sword and blocked the blow just before it cut me in two.

I counterattacked and stabbed Phobos in the arm. Golden ichor, the blood of the gods, soaked through his shirt.

Phobos growled and slashed at me. I parried easily. Without his power of fear, Phobos was nothing. He wasn't even a decent fighter. I pressed him back, swiped at his face, and gave him a cut across the cheek. The angrier he was, the clumsier he got. I couldn't kill him. He was immortal. But you wouldn't have known that from his expression. The fear god looked afraid.

And I was angry. I never liked any of the gods. Though Hermes somewhat changed my outlook, at least towards him, I still didn't like the others. Especially smug bastards like Phobos and Deimos. Even today, I couldn't explain what really happened. I lost control, slashing and hacking at the war god's son.

By the end of it, Phobos was a bleeding mess on the ground. When I walked, I felt a squelch in my boots, and I looked down to see my shoes were wet. Soaked with golden ichor. Phobos was limbless and a deep cut ran from his neck to his lower hips. I guess I really did open him up balls to brain.

I stepped on his face as I walked out, satisfied upon hearing a groan. And then he dissolved into yellow vapour.

Then I looked at Ares's motorcycle. I'd never ridden an all-powerful Harley-Davidson war chariot before, but how hard could it be? I hopped on, started the ignition, and rode out of the aquarium to help Clarisse.

I had no trouble finding her. I just followed the path of destruction. Fences were knocked down. Animals were running free. Badgers and lemurs were checking out the popcorn machine. A fat-looking leopard was lounging on a park bench with a bunch of pigeon feathers around him.

I parked the motorcycle next to the petting zoo, and there were Deimos and Clarisse in the goat area. Clarisse was on her knees. I ran forward but stopped suddenly when I saw how Deimos had changed form. He was Ares now – the tall god of war, dressed in black leather and sunglasses, his whole body smoking with anger as he raised his fist over Clarisse.

"You failed me again!" the war god bellowed. "I told you what would happen!"

He tried to strike her, but Clarisse scrambled away, shrieking, "No! Please!"

"Bitch!"

"Clarisse!" I yelled. "It's an illusion. Stand up to him!"

Deimos's form flickered. "I am Ares!" he insisted. "And you are a worthless whore! I knew you would fail me. Now you will suffer my wrath, you slut."

I wanted to charge in and fight Deimos, but somehow I knew it wouldn't help. Clarisse had to do it. This was her worst fear. She had to overcome it for herself.

"Clarisse!" I said. She glanced over, and I tried to hold her eyes. "Stand up to him!" I said. "He's nothing but a coward. Get up!"

"I… I can't."

"Yes, you can. You're a warrior. The best of the best! Get up!"

She hesitated. Then she began to stand.

"What are you doing?" 'Ares' bellowed. "Grovel for mercy, whore!"

Clarisse took a shaky breath. Very quietly, she said, "No."

"WHAT?!"

She raised her sword. "I'm tired of being scared of you."

Deimos struck, but Clarisse deflected the blow. She staggered but didn't fall.

"You're not Ares," Clarisse said. "You suck at fighting."

Deimos growled in frustration. When he struck again, Clarisse was ready. She disarmed him and stabbed him in the shoulder – not deep, but enough to hurt even a godling.

He yowled in pain and began to glow.

"Look away!" I told Clarisse.

We averted our eyes as Deimos exploded into golden light – his true godly form – and disappeared.

We arrived at Pier 86 soon enough.

Clarisse wrapped the reins around her hand. "About what you saw, Luke. What I was afraid of, I mean –"

"I won't tell anybody."

She looked at me uncomfortably. "Did Phobos scare you?"

"Yeah. I saw the camp in flames. I saw my friends all pleading for help and I didn't know what to do. For a second, I couldn't move. I was paralysed. I know how you felt."

She lowered her eyes. "I, uh… I guess I should say…" The words seemed to stick in her throat. I wasn't sure Clarisse had ever said thank you in her life.

"Don't mention it," I told her.

I started to walk away, but she called out, "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"You admitted it. I am the best."

I was so tired I didn't argue. "Just don't tell anybody, okay? Or I'd have to kill you."

A faint smile flickered across her face. "See you later."

"See you."

I headed off towards the subway. It had been a long day, and I was ready to go back to Camp and do some good old pranking.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N: Two chapters in a day. Must be a record for me. Anyway, this chapter may seem like Deus Ex Castellan instead of Luke, but you need to know that I've made him much more powerful than in the books. He's at least on Thalia's level in terms of combat. If anyone's wondering about Luke's speed compared to Percy, then all I can say is that Luke has much better travel speed while Percy has better combat speed.**

 **Please review. It helps a lot.**


	13. Old Friends

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _I started to walk away, but she called out, "Luke?"_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"You admitted it. I am the best."_

 _I was so tired I didn't argue. "Just don't tell anybody, okay? Or I'd have to kill you."_

 _A faint smile flickered across her face. "See you later."_

 _"See you."_

 _I headed off towards the subway. It had been a long day, and I was ready to go back to Camp and do some good old pranking._

* * *

( _Camp Jupiter_ )

Jason Grace and Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano stood guard in front of the Caldecott tunnel, which was the secret entrance into Camp Jupiter. The son of Jupiter and the daughter of Bellona both frowned and drew their weapons simultaneously as a fifteen foot tall figure approached.

Jason flipped a golden coin and a golden spear landed in his hand. Reyna merely unstrapped the spear on her back and held in front of her.

The son of Jupiter stepped forward. "HALT! Who are you and what business do you have here?!"

The shadowy silhouette slowly burned away to reveal a tall being in golden armour. He had a shining golden spear in his right hand, which had golden energy crackling around it's tip every once in a while.

The being stopped in front of them. " **So this is the infamous Roman Camp? Disappointing.** ". His voice was deep. Deeper than a human's could possibly be.

The air condensed around Jason's fist and slowly covered his body in a protective aura. "Last chance. What have you come here for?"

The being lifted his head, revealing two burning suns for eyes. " **For you.** "

Jason was glad he was ready. Twin beams of golden energy shot out of the titan's eyes coming straight at him. He knew there was no way he could have dodged them, but the air was already condensed in front of him. The beams of energy struck the air shield and shattered it easily, but the shield had absorbed most of the damage.

The son of Jupiter was thrown across the tunnel, rolling across the ground. When Reyna looked back, she could've sworn there was steam coming from Jason's body.

The daughter of Bellona stared at the being. "It's clear you are an immortal. Don't you know the rules? You can't attack first."

The immortal being in front of her laughed loudly, shaking the tunnel. " **Foolish girl! Which imbecile told you that? We cannot attack mortals without provocation. He threatened me by displaying his weapon. He challenged me. Idiotic son of Jupiter!** "

Reyna frowned. "Lord Jupiter will strike you down."

The titan laughed again. " **Jupiter? Jupiter is a weakling! He is no-** "

The titan was cut off when the sky rumbled. He looked up, a bit nervous. " **What is this?!** "

Before he could say anything, a massive bolt of lightning struck him. Bright blue electricity travelled all over his body, atrophying his muscles and vaporising his skin. Reyna was thrown back several metres, and when she looked at her skin, it was bright red, as if hot water had been poured all over her body.

Jason stood behind her, his arm raised to the sky, spear in hand. Reyna's eyes widened. Not Jupiter. It was Jason Grace who summoned the lightning bolt.

The entrance to the tunnel was blocked by the ceiling caving in. The son of Jupiter had to carry her and run to the other side, as her ears were still ringing from the explosion.

Jason had just managed to get them across and into Camp Jupiter. Reyna had recovered by then. But her relief was short lived when she saw the Camp borders. The titan who was struck by Jason stood there, clutching his eye, steam coming off his whole body. And behind him were monsters. Even her demigod eyes couldn't make out how many there were. Too many for only two hundred legionnaires.

"Jason. We need to evacuate the Camp. Now."

The son of Jupiter frowned and looked at the borders. "I'll fly over to the Praetor and inform him it's a code red situation."

He bent his knees and jumped, cracking the ground as he took off. Within seconds Jason had reached the Praetor's office, shattering the door as he flew in.

Michael, the Praetor of the Twelfth Legion stood up from his seat. "GRACE! You know the rules! NO FLYING INTO MY OFFICE!"

"Sorry, Praetor. This is a code red situation. The titans from Mt. Tam attacked from Caldecott tunnel. Reyna and I have collapsed it, but it's only a matter of time before they find another way in."

When Aurum and Argentum, the robotic dogs didn't tear Jason to shreds, Michael cursed. "Shit! Grace, you're my second in command from now. Go and gather the soldiers and lead them to the Field of Mars. We'll make a stand there."

Jason frowned. "I'm not sure you understand, Michael. There is one titan, and a whole army of monsters."

Michael shook his head. "And yet I say, go to the Field of Mars. I have a plan ... EVERYONE OUT!"

When everyone was out of the room, the Praetor flipped a coin into a small fountain. "Perseus. This is Michael, Praetor of the First Legion. If you can hear me, we need your help. Titans attack. Location: Caldecott Tunnel, San Francisco."

It didn't take long to gather the legion into the Field of Mars. The battle horn was sounded thrice.

A lot of the demigods rushed out with half their armour still hanging from their body, but most of them were fine.

As they ran to the Field of Mars, they each picked up a shield and a spear. Romans were organized and always ready. So it didn't take long for them to get into formation. Jason stood in front of them, wielding his own spear. They would have argued, but Michael Varus had given him an emblem to pin onto his t-shirt. An emblem that ranked him as a Centurion, not someone on probation.

The ground started to shake. Jason looked behind him and in the distance he could see the monster army approaching. But the titans were not in front. Instead, the legion

"ROMANS! TO ARMS!" He yelled.

The entirety of the Twelfth Legion put their shields in front of them and the spears were in between the gaps, ready to pierce at a moments notice. This shield wall was nearly unbreakable.

In front of them stood the largest collection of monsters Jason had ever seen. He gripped his spear tighter. There were far too many monsters for them to handle. Whatever Michael was doing, he hoped it would work.

* * *

( _Upper East Manhattan_ )

Camp Half-Blood was nice and all, but it just wasn't Percy's style. He still very much preferred his own, or his friends' company.

Friends was an endangered species in Percy's world. There were few of them left. Some were gods, like Apollo, or Hermes. The others ... not so much.

The demigod was broken out of his musings by the doorbell ringing.

'Ah', Percy thought. 'Speaking of friends.'

He stood from his chair and set aside his laptop onto his coffee table. Stretching his arms for a bit, he walked to the door and unlatched it before swinging it open. Two young men stood there, both wearing pants and t-shirts on top. One of them was black haired, and had had a few scars on his arms and one on his face. The other was blonde, and had no scars.

Percy smiled widely. "Jason. Achilles. Come in."

Stepping aside, he let the two ancient heroes enter. Both of them had some luggage on them, which Percy helped them with. Once they were all settled, Percy tossed them a sandwich each.

The blonde haired demigod, Achilles, took a bite. "Not bad. You sure you didn't get Hestia to conjure up these for you?", he joked.

Jason sighed, plopping onto the couch. "I hate flights."

Percy chuckled. "That bad?"

Achilles smirked. "You wouldn't believe the incessant complaining he did all the way till here. I had to book the bastard a business class seat so he'd shut up."

Percy smiled. "You? Economy class? Am I to believe that?"

Achilles stared at Percy. "Not all of us get hoards of treasure from their contracts with gods. Especially one that has dominion over all precious metals. Bloody hell man."

The son of Poseidon laughed at his friends' expense. "I'm glad you both are here. Truly. Because I really need your help."

Jason sat straight, looking comically serious. "Hey. Achilles. Did I hear right? The great Perseus wants _our_ help?"

Achilles played along. "Don't know. I think the both of us have hearing issues. Because I heard the same as well. Perseus. Could you repeat that again."

Percy shook his head as the two of them laughed at his expense. "Anyway. What I was saying was that we have a serious problem. A few weeks back I had gone to Amsterdam. I had to bring Pieter, one of Athena's sons, to Camp Half-Blood."

Achilles frowned. "So? What happened. Did he get lost?"

Percy sighed. "No. He's at Camp Half-Blood for now. But that's besides the point. While in Amsterdam, I learned that almost every demigod there was killed. All recently."

Both heroes gasped.

"What?!"

"Why?!"

"How the fuck?!"

For a few minutes, nobody spoke. They gave a moment of silence for the fallen demigods. And the silence continued, until it was broken by Jason.

Jason furrowed his brows in concentration. "Wait a minute. I thought Northern Europe had generally peaceful monsters. Why would they do something so horrible?!"

Percy nodded. "Yeah. That's what worries me. According to what Pieter said, the monsters were probably being led by a more powerful being."

Achilles looked at the screen of Percy's laptop, which currently showed the map of Netherlands. "It can't be a titan. Gods would know. Could be someone like ... that Darkstorm guy you told us to watch out for."

Jason nodded in agreement. "Yes. He fits the bill best. Are there any more like him?"

Percy shook his head. "Not as far as I know. If there are, then he is the strongest of them."

Achilles frowned, looking at the sketching Percy had drawn of the black knight. "What is he though? You said he bled red. Is he a demigod of some sort? A demititan maybe?"

"Could be. Couldn't be. Doesn't matter right now. What matters is that we find him, and stop him."

Jason scoffed. "You told us yourself that he destroyed the twins easily. They're Olympians. What can we do?"

"It's more like 'what he can do.'", Percy said, pointing at Achilles.

Achilles sighed. "Don't know. I could try. First, we have to find him. If it indeed is a him. Could be Adele for all you know."

Percy gave the warrior a deadpan stare that said 'Really dude?'.

The latter raised his hands in submission. "Alright. Okay. Do you know where he is though?"

Percy nodded. "Almost.". He pointed at his laptop. "I'm cross referencing my sketch with all available cameras. Phones included."

Jason frowned. "But what makes you so sure he's wearing his armour? We don't know how he looks under that armour. It would be perfect to hide in plain sight, wouldn't it?"

Percy shook his head. "You haven't met this guy. He doesn't give a shit who sees him. In fact, I think he wants to be seen. He has an ego that way."

Achilles snorted. "Sounds like just about all of the gods."

Percy shook his head. "I said he has an ego. Not that he's an idiot. I've beaten many beings stronger than myself before. You guys have too. But most of the time, we beat them because of their mistakes. Some of them had shitty weaknesses, and some of them absolutely loved to monologue. Darkstorm is neither. He wasted no time. He wasted no words. He's a man with a mission. A purpose. That makes him more dangerous than just about everyone."

Before anyone could say anything, the laptop on the coffee table gave a loud 'BEEEP!', signalling that it had found a match.

Percy was by the laptop screen in a flash, looking at a particular CCTV feed the laptop had picked up. The camera showed Darkstorm in his black and gold armour, standing near the crossroads and causing havoc.

"That's him.", Percy declared.

Before Percy could say anything further, a voice filled his head, making him clutch his head in pain. ' _Perseus. This is Michael, Praetor of the First Legion. If you can hear me, we need your help. Titans attack. Location: Caldecott Tunnel, San Francisco._ '

The son of Poseidon took a moment to regain his bearings.

Achilles and Jason were by his side, supporting him. "You alright man?"

Percy shuddered. "Yeah. I-It's the Praetor of the Twelfth Legion."

Jason shook Percy, snapping the demigod out of his momentary light headedness. "Hey! Percy! What about the Praetor?"

The demigod groaned before standing straight. "The Romans. They're being attacked by the titans."

Achilles frowned. "Okay. We'll call Olympus and-"

"No.", Percy said.

"No? Why not?"

"Because the gods haven't been answering since yesterday, including my father."

"Shit."

* * *

( _Olympus_ )

Zeus ducked as a razor sharp spear swung over his head. The god raised his bolt and fired, but couldn't afford to release too much energy, with his throne right in front of him.

The king of the gods cursed as Iapetus, the titan, got back up from the small blast. Across the room, there were two more titans, who battled the rest of the Olympians. Zeus once again cursed Poseidon for not being there. He could have changed the tide from this stalemate.

What had happened? Well, a regular council meeting was going on, when out of nowhere, a flash of light filled the room and three of Kronos's brothers had appeared. Iapetus, Krios and Koios. How they got past the anti-teleportation barrier was beyond Zeus.

Luckily, the gods were already in the middle of an argument, so their weapons were already out. Almost instantaneously, the eleven gods descended upon the titans, attacking with fury.

Zeus could easily take Iapetus, but the other Olympians were clearly having trouble with Krios and Koios. The two titans were having a jolly time smacking around the lesser Olympians, who had to restrain themselves lest their thrones be destroyed.

He wondered what in the universe could be so important to Poseidon that he didn't come to help.

* * *

( _Atlantis_ )

Poseidon, King of the Seas, struck his trident hard and true against Oceanus' armour, shattering it like glass. Without his armour, the titan had no way of protecting himself. But he was still the eldest titan. The proud titan forced his chariot forward, ploughing through the ranks of Atlanteans.

The sea god's eyes narrowed, and he too moved forward. The two beings met in a thunderous crash, thrown out of their chariots.

The snake around Oceanus' hand moved forward to bite the sea god, but a flick of his trident and the monster was cut in two. Growling in anger, the titan summoned his own spear and charged.

Across the city, another swarm of monsters had attacked, but this was led by a different being. Tethys, wife of Oceanus. Expecting no resistance, she moved in, which was a grave mistake, because two beings were waiting for her.

At the opportune moment, Triton, heir to the throne of Atlantis, attacked the titaness with half of the Atlantean forces. With him was someone Tethys did not expect to see. Amphitrite, the Queen of Atlantis.

The titaness was pushed back. She growled. "Daughter?! What is the meaning of this?! We came to rid you of that filth!"

The goddess glared at her mother before charging with a battle cry. "That 'filth' is MY HUSBAND!"

Triton and his forces followed her.

* * *

( _The Underworld_ )

Hades sat on his throne, his feet stretched out. He either had no knowledge of what was happening in Olympus, Atlantis and Camp Jupiter, or he simply didn't give a shit.

* * *

( _Upper East Manhattan_ )

Achilles walked about back and forth the living room.

Percy frowned. "Stop that."

The warrior snapped. "Those fucking idiots aren't replying. I've been trying to Iris message them for minutes now. None of them reply."

Percy sighed. "Told you. Now lets go save the Romans. We need to do this ourselves."

Jason frowned. "What about Camp Half-Blood? They could help a lot."

Percy and Achilles shook their heads in a no-no simultaneously. "They have no knowledge of their Roman cousins, and it's best if it stays that way. The Civil War should be a good example of their toleration of each other."

Achilles then noticed the laptop screen, where Darkstorm was still there. "What about Darkstorm? I'm not trying to be insensitive, but this is the kind of lead we won't get again."

Percy cursed. "He's doing this on purpose. I just know it. He's trying to make this a difficult choice. Chase down a murderer of thousands of demigods or let a few hundred Romans die."

"So what do we do?"

"We go to Camp Jupiter. Darkstorm can wait."

* * *

( _Mark Hotel, New York City_ )

'Pieter Jansen' entered the expensive hotel lobby, wearing jeans and a red plaid shirt. He walked over to the receptionist, who didn't bother looking up. "Name please.", she said.

"Darkstorm."

Her eyes widened. "Sir?!". Hastily getting up, she stumbled and stuttered. "S-Sir the Penthouse Suite is ready for you."

He smiled. "Good. Has my equipment been moved inside already?"

She nodded furiously. "Yes sir."

"Good. Good. Now, I hope the maintenance crew has fixed my 'clothes'."

She frowned, before realizing what he meant. "Yes sir, your armour is fixed, and I myself saw to the repairs."

Darkstorm nodded. "Very good. Where's Ida?"

As if on cue, a tall woman appeared. Almost as tall as Darkstorm himself. "Ceádmil, fy arglwydd." [Hello, my lord.]

Darkstorm nodded in reply. "Ceádmil, Ida. Lle mae'r dduwies?" [Hello, Ida. Where is the goddess?]

"I fyny'r grisiau, fy arglwydd." [Upstairs, my lord.]

Darkstorm nodded. "Good. Take me to her."

The penthouse suite was very large. Nearly twelve thousand square feet in size. It covered the top two floors of the hotel. Darkstorm entered the top floor, which was devoid of any furniture, the room being completely white in colour.

Ida followed behind him. At the end of the floor, there was a figure, chained to the wall with her hands and feet apart in an X formation.

Darkstorm walked towards the auburn haired figure, who raised her head. Golden blood dripped from her wounds and her clothes were in tatters, but she was still very much conscious.

Darkstorm gripped her head and raised it to look her in the eye. His red eyes pierced through her silver ones.

He smiled. "Ceádmil, Phoebe Artemis."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

 **And so the plot thickens. If Artemis is here, then who is on Olympus?**

 **And if you guys haven't figured it out, Darkstorm and Ida were talking in Elder Speech (from The Witcher series.)**

 **A few words I'll commonly use are the greetings: 'Ceádmil', which means 'hello' or 'welcome'. 'Va fail' means 'Goodbye' or 'see you'  
**

 **As always, please review. Last chapter I got barely two reviews, which is probably why I took so long to update. Please do review. It helps me figure out the weak and strong points of my story.**


	14. What Are You?

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _As if on cue, a tall woman appeared. Almost as tall as Darkstorm himself. "Ceádmil, fy arglwydd." [Hello, my lord.]_

 _Darkstorm nodded in reply. "Ceádmil, Ida. Lle mae'r dduwies?" [Hello, Ida. Where is the goddess?]_

 _"I fyny'r grisiau, fy arglwydd." [Upstairs, my lord.]_

 _Darkstorm nodded. "Good. Take me to her."_

 _The penthouse suite was very large. Nearly twelve thousand square feet in size. It covered the top two floors of the hotel. Darkstorm entered the top floor, which was devoid of any furniture, the room being completely white in colour._

 _Ida followed behind him. At the end of the floor, there was a figure, chained to the wall with her hands and feet apart in an X formation._

 _Darkstorm walked towards the auburn haired figure, who raised her head. Golden blood dripped from her wounds and her clothes were in tatters, but she was still very much conscious._

 _Darkstorm gripped her head and raised it to look her in the eye. His red eyes pierced through her silver ones._

 _He smiled. "Ceádmil, Phoebe Artemis."_

* * *

( _Field of Mars,Camp Jupiter_ )

Jason Grace frowned when the enemy didn't advance. Instead, he could see their front line moving back and the second row coming forward. The second row was filled with some odd creatures, with one leg being bronze and the other being a donkey's leg. All of them seemed to be women, but they had fangs for teeth and their hair was on fire.

Also, they held bows.

The son of Jupiter squinted, seeing them draw an arrow. Eyes widening, he yelled. "ROMANS! TURTLE FORMATION!"

The Romans immediately shifted, the outermost rows turned ninety degrees to their left/right, and the back row turned around. They stuck their shields closer and left absolutely no gaps.

Just in time too, as a volley of flaming arrows rained down upon them. A lot of the arrows were stopped mid air by Jason Grace. He flicked his wrist and the arrows he stopped turned around, flying back to where they had come from.

A chaos ensued in the front lines of the monster army. Growling, the monsters dropped their ranged weapons and roared, running at the demigods in a frenzy

Before the monster army could reach the demigods, a blue and white circular shape suddenly appeared in the middle of the air above them, and a small black coloured object flew out of it.

The monsters had only time to say 'Oh shit' before hell rained down upon them.

The Romans cheered loudly as they got out of their turtle formation and stuck their spears out front before advancing upon the monsters.

The black object was a fighter jet. It looked like your average F-16, were it not for the fact that it was currently firing explosive rounds of Imperial Gold. The jet also seemed to move much more smoothly and had an extreme amount of control over it's flight.

Inside, Jason (the retriever of the golden fleece. Jason Grace will be referred to as Jason II) had a gleeful look on his face as he held his thumb over the red button, relentlessly firing explosive rounds of Imperial Gold at the monster army.

On the ground, another blue portal opened, and two demigods jumped out. One was black-haired, and wore all black. Two swords were strapped to his back in an X formation and a belt with throwing stars was attached to his waist. He pressed a button on his gauntlet, which caused the portal to close.

The other person wore nothing but regular clothes, but he held a wickedly sharp Celestial Bronze blade in his right hand.

Percy turned to Achilles. "I hope your weak spot isn't really your heel."

The warrior looked at him oddly. "What kind of an idiot do you take me for? Of course it's not. Now let's take that shining bastard up front."

Percy turned, seeing a fifteen foot tall being step out in front of the monster army. He was covered head to toe in shining golden armour and had suns for eyes. " **Ah. Perseus. Darkstorm said you might come.** "

Percy cracked his neck, before reaching back to his twin swords and pulling them out, spinning them in circles as he did so. "Is that so?" Percy asked. "Well, when we send your severed head to him, you can tell him he's next."

The ground shook as the titan laughed. " **Such arrogance. We shall see if you can back it up.** ". The titan raised his spear high. " **ATTACK!** "

The monster army charged them at once, recovering from the havoc caused by Jason in the F-16. Percy touched his ear, and spoke. "Alright Jason. That's enough. We can't risk you firing at the demigods. Help us out with this golden turd."

Jason, inside the small aircraft nodded before pressing a green button on the control panel. He was launched out of the aircraft, and the plane shot off away from the battlefield. As it flew, a blue portal opened, and it vanished.

The ancient hero landed right on top of the titan, legs first, making sure it impacted hard. It didn't. The titan growled in annoyance and flicked him aside. Jason then held his hand out. A shining golden sword appeared in it.

Before the titan could do anything else, he was attacked from the front by Percy and Achilles. Hyperion had to constantly shift his spear to avoid getting hit by their weapons. But on several occasions, the blades found their mark.

Although it wasn't enough to actually hurt him much, it still meant he did not have the upper hand.

Growling, the titan parried a strike from Percy with his spear and swung it in a semi-circle. Jason dodged the spear matrix style, and the spear was brought to abrupt halt by Achilles' sword.

Meanwhile, the Romans and the monsters were locked in a struggle. The Roman wall shield refused to budge, and monsters who decided to jump above it were skewered to death by Roman spears.

But the monsters had numbers, and they kept coming indefinitely, and the Romans could feel their feet failing them as they were slowly being pushed back.

Percy glanced at the Romans. "Achilles! Help them! I'll handle the turd!"

Hyperion roared in anger. " **How DARE YOU! DIE!** ". A sphere of golden energy exploded outwards, and both Jason and Percy were thrown backwards, landing roughly onto the ground.

Percy suddenly rolled to the side as a spear embedded itself into the earth, causing a web of cracks to extend outwards from it. As the titan bent to rip it out, the demigod kicked him with both legs, sending him hurtling towards Jason, who had his sword ready.

Mid-air, Hyperion turned, receiving a wound on his gut which would otherwise have pierced his spine. Golden blood flowed like a fresh stream. The titan balanced himself upon his spear and gasped. " **W-What weapon is that?!** ", he demanded.

Percy smirked. "Hurts, doesn't it?!"

Roaring in fury, the titan charged, and Percy charged back.

The monsters would have broken through the Roman shield wall. They nearly did, too, but just as the first Roman demigod lost balance, he entire first row of monsters were eradicated.

In front of the Roman shield wall stood the greatest warrior in history. Achilles himself. He yelled and charged, inciting the Romans to do so too. The invulnerable warrior tore through the monster ranks like a knife through hot butter.

The Romans filled the gaps and tore apart the monster formation, separating them.

Achilles was spinning around with his sword, instantaneously obliterating any monster who came near. His sword was no longer visible and no weapon broke through his skin. A monster shot his heel, only to gasp as the arrow bounced back right at it, killing it instantly.

The Romans wisely kept their distance from Achilles and focused on the monsters who tried to run.

Jason Grace took to the air, raising his hands and summoned a vast multitude of lightning bolts, vaporising several monsters at once. But it wasn't enough. There were simply far too many monsters.

They kept going for several hours, but Percy knew they couldn't do this for much longer. Achilles didn't have the stamina he had, the curse made sure of that. He tired quickly. Soon, he would drop. The Romans had gone back to their shield formation.

He turned to look at Jason, who parried a strike from the titan. Percy stuck his leg out, tripping the titan and as Hyperion fell, Percy grabbed grabbed a handful of throwing stars and flung it at the titan.

The stars didn't do much, aside from sticking to the titan like hairpins. Hyperion laughed. " **Your puny weapons cannot harm me!** "

Percy smirked. "Not yet.". He pressed a button on his right arm's gauntlet, making the throwing stars explode. The titan roared in pain as Stygian Iron fragments embedded into his skin.

Percy looked at Jason. "NOW!"

The hero nodded before tossing a blue vial at the immobile titan. The vial broke at the titan's skin and for a second it did nothing, but suddenly it stretched outwards, covering the titan in a glassy prison.

Jason looked at Percy. "It won't take him long to break out. We have a few minutes at best."

"That's enough. I'll tend to the monsters. Get everyone out of here."

Jason nodded before rushing off towards the monsters, sword in hand. He appeared beside Achilles, slashing a hellhound to bits. "Hey! Get back! We need to evacuate these guys!"

Achilles frowned. "Okay! I'll go back. Handle these things!"

Jason nodded, and as soon as Achilles was gone, he let out a deep breath. With his right hand still gripping his sword, he raised his left hand at the monsters. He bent his index and pinky fingers at the same time and pushed forward.

Suddenly, a stream of fire erupted from his palm. He moved it around in a semicircle, vaporising anyone who came near. The stream of fire super heated the monsters and boiled them alive, but in less than a minute, Jason dropped to his knees exhausted.

Achilles appeared beside him. "We're ready. Let's go.". The warrior helped Jason up, and the two of them walked towards the Romans.

Achilles looked at the Romans. "ALRIGHT, ROMANS! I'M GOING TO OPEN A PORTAL, AND YOU WILL ALL ENTER IT! READY?!"

One Roman stepped forward, arguing. "Hey! We don't even know who you are!"

Jason glared at the Romans, then he noticed Jason II. "Hey you! Are you in charge around here?"

Jason II frowned. "Uh ... yeah? For now."

"Good. Then tell your subjects to enter the portal.".

Achilles then took out a small device which resembled an music player. When he pressed a button on it, a blue portal appeared.

Jason II nodded. "Romans! Move out!"

The legion carried out his order without hesitation, but they had dallied for too long. Hyperion was breaking free.

Percy rushed in front of them. "MOVE! FASTER!"

The Romans broke into a sprint, entering the portal as quickly as possible. Though they didn't trample each other and cause a stampede. It was an orderly sprint.

Percy looked back at the titan. He was almost through. Shaking his head, Percy raised his hand, and a giant ball of water floated from the Tiber to the titan. He dropped it on the titan and willed the water to harden. It would give the Romans more time.

The titan roared as he smashed his fist against the water wall, making some of the water splosh out. Percy winced in pain. This was taking too much effort. A few more attempts and Hyperion would break through.

Two Romans were left before Hyperion smashed through the water barricade. Before the Romans could blink, he was there, swinging his spear. Achilles stepped forward and parried the spear as Percy shoved both Jason II and Reyna inside.

Percy grabbed Achilles and Jason and jumped inside. Hyperion would have entered the portal, but at the last second, Jason made a sign with his left hand, this time lowering the middle and pinky fingers before pushing outwards. Instead of a stream of fire, a shockwave erupted from his palm and struck the titan, sending him several feet back.

As soon as he did it, they were sucked inside and the portal closed, leaving Hyperion in the middle of Camp Jupiter.

The titan roared in anger, pointing at New Rome. " **NO! ... ATTACK THE CITY!** "

"It isss empty, my lord. The Romansss were a dissstraction. While they fought usss, the resssidentssss have essscaped." An empousai said.

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Several blue circles opened up above the volleyball courts and basketball courts. The campers ran aside as literally hundreds of people fell out of them. Another blue circle appeared and Percy came out of it, with Achilles and Jason in tow.

Chiron's eyes widened as he cantered over to Percy. "My boy? What is this? Why have you brought them here?"

Percy sighed. "Chiron. They were attacked by Hyperion and the whole titan army. We got them out just in time?"

"We?"

It was then that the centaur recognised his old pupils. "Jason? Achilles?!"

Annabeth, who was beside Chiron, dropped her books. "WHAT?!"

Percy sighed. "Let's all gather at the bonfire. This is going to take a while to explain."

( _A few hours later_ )

The Greek demigods and Roman demigods were on opposite sides, glaring at each other.

Percy sighed. "That's enough. Greek or Roman, it doesn't matter. We face a common enemy. Kronos."

"Saturn." Octavian said.

"Shut up." Percy replied. "Now. As I was saying, I need you all to get along. After all, you'll be living with each other."

"WHAT?!" Octavian yelled. "I will not stay with these ... these graecus scum!"

Achilles glared at the Roman, making him slink back to his position.

Percy looked at the Romans. "You all probably know that you can't go back there. Hyperion has most likely destroyed that place. You will stay here for the time being, and you will get along with the campers."

He turned to the Greeks. "And you all will not start fights. They aren't just Romans. They're guests here. Is that how Greeks treat guests?"

The campers shook their heads.

"Alright. Romans! You will be put into different cabins based on your godly parents. If you're a son of Mercury, you go to the Hermes cabin. If you're a son of Mars, you go to the Ares cabin. Is that understood?!"

"YES!"

"Alright. Now get lost."

The Greeks and Romans both left the area, except for Percy, Achilles, Jason, Chiron, Thalia and Jason II.

Percy looked at Thalia and at Jason II. He walked over to Jason II, causing the latter to take a step back.

Percy chuckled. "Relax kid. Tell me your name."

"Jason Grace.", he said proudly.

A loud gasp was heard. Percy turned around to see Thalia with her hands over her mouth, before he realised who this demigod was. He asked Thalia to stay back because he thought Jason II was her half-brother. But as it turns out, he was actually her blood-brother too. Jason _Grace_.

Percy looked at Achilles and then at Jason. The two of them nodded and walked to his side. Chiron frowned. "What are you doing, Perseus?"

The demigod had a hard look on his face. "No Olympian has answered for the past two days, including my father. That can only mean one thing. They're in deep shit. I'm going to Atlantis while Achilles and Jason will go to Olympus. Let's see what's wrong."

* * *

( _Olympus_ )

The gods were about to smite the titans into powder when the titans themselves suddenly flashed away, leaving the Olympians in confusion. The titans could have won, if they got lucky. Why did they suddenly run?

A blue portal appeared in the room and two figures jumped out of it, weapons in hand. When they saw no titan, they were confused.

Zeus sighed. "They just left."

Achilles face palmed. "Damn it!"

Most of the gods sighed in relief and sat on their thrones.

'Artemis' was the only one not so tired, but at the moment, nobody paid heed to that. Nobody except Athena.

* * *

( _Mark Hotel, New York City_ )

Artemis, the Olympian. The goddess of the moon and the hunt. The goddess of archery. The protector of maidens and children.

This very goddess was currently chained to a wall in a penthouse suite in an X-formation, her clothes tattered and bruises all over her body.

She felt her head grabbed roughly and held high. She saw ruby red eyes piercing through her own and she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time. Fear.

It was the first time she had seen Darkstorm outside of his armour, and yet, he looked more frightening without it. There was something about the way he carried himself and the way he talked. It unnerved her.

She had been his prisoner for over forty days now, and yet, she still didn't know or understand what he was. He didn't torture her. Not by himself at least. That was done by the woman who currently stood beside him.

Artemis came to know the woman's name. Ida, she was called.

Darkstorm motioned to Ida, and the woman unchained Artemis. The goddess couldn't believe what was happening.

Immediately she flashed out.

Or at least, she tried to. She concentrated, but nothing happened. She raised her hand to smite Darkstorm, but nothing came out of her palm, except for wisps of steam.

Darkstorm chuckled. "Enjoying your new home, dduwies?" ['dduwies' meaning 'goddess']

The goddess stared at her palm. "What have you done to me?!"

Darkstorm merely smiled, before he looked at Ida. "Leave us, Ida."

The woman hesitated, looking at Artemis, before bowing to Darkstorm. "Fy Arglwydd." [My Lord.]

Artemis watched as Ida left the room, her steps echoing throughout.

Darkstorm sighed as he looked at his phone. "Tsk. Titans. Gods. What does it matter. You all are utterly useless. Other than a handful of you, the rest are nothing but a hindrance upon this world, and all others. Can't even capture one measly demigod."

Artemis knew better than to attack him, but she had been held captive for more than a month and she didn't know what was happening outside. She lunged forward.

Without looking up, Darkstorm stepped to the side and let her fall face first to the floor. "Enough, Artemis. This building not only negates your powers but also renders you weak. Here, you are as weak as a dh'oine." ['dh'oine' meaning 'human']

The goddess struggled as she got to her feet. "Olympus will find you."

Darkstorm shook his head. "Not really. They will not be looking for me. They will be investigating in Netherlands and Northern Europe."

The goddess's eyes widened in horror. "What are you going to do?"

Darkstorm chuckled. "So many demigods in Netherlands. Truly spectacular to see them die."

Artemis narrowed her eyes as she stepped towards him. "I won't let you do that!"

He had a look on his face which made Artemis feel like the dumbest person alive. "Do that? Artemis? I'm not a comic book villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my plans to you if there was even a slightest possibility of you affecting the outcome? My Dearg Ruadhri killed them two weeks ago." ['Dearg Ruadhri' meaning 'Red Riders']

Moments later, Darkstorm was interrupted by a large light skinned figure entering the room. He had a somewhat round, but muscular face, and was very tall. Nearly seven feet, almost as tall as Darkstorm. He had red war paint on his face, three thick lines. One from his forehead to his chin and the other two from his forehead through his eyes and stopping at his lips.

Darkstorm turned to him, motioning with his head to speak.

The large man glanced at the goddess, before speaking. "Hyperion methu â dal y dh'oine." [Hyperion failed to capture the human]

Darkstorm's eyes narrowed, his face slightly reddening. "Beth oedd y ffwl honno'n ei wneud? Roedd ganddo filiynau o anghenfilod!" [What was that fool doing? He had millions of monsters!]

Artemis frowned, trying to make something out of their conversation. They spoke in a language she didn't understand. It wasn't like anything she had heard. The only thing she understood was that Hyperion did something to upset Darkstorm. This made her happy. If there was internal strife between Darkstorm and the titans, then maybe they would be distracted enough for-

"Edrychwch ar y dduwies bach hon. Eisoes yn gwneud cynlluniau i ddianc." Darkstorm said to the large man, chuckling as he did. [Look at this little goddess. Already making plans to escape.]

Artemis frowned. She didn't know what Darkstorm said, but the way he looked at her and spoke, it was clear he was talking about her.

Darkstorm turned to Artemis. "Listen up. You aren't getting out of here, no matter what happens. The Dearg Ruadhri are the most elite of warriors. Even you Olympians cannot defeat them. And I lead them."

Darkstorm flicked his finger and the goddess was thrown backwards, her head hitting the wall. Before she could recover, black chains erupted from the wall, going over her wrists, elbows, shoulders, ankles, thighs and chest. Excessive, true, but this ensured no movement of her limbs, other than maybe her fingers and toes.

The large man cracked his neck and eyed Artemis. "A ddylwn i ddysgu gwers iddi hi?" [Should I teach her a lesson?]

Darkstorm held his hand up, shaking his head. "Ddim eto, Ira. Byddaf yn gadael i chi ei chael hi'n ddiweddarach." [Not now, Ira. I will let you have her later.]

The large man, whom Artemis presumed was called Ira, glanced at her top to bottom before walking out.

Darkstorm smirked, looking at Artemis. It wasn't one of those playful smirks. It was a smug smirk, a show of arrogance. An evil smirk, even. "Poor little goddess, so confused. Do you know what? Let me clear up this confusion."

Artemis struggled against her bonds. "Let me GO!", she shouted. And for a moment, her eyes turned silver, but it was gone just as quickly as it had come.

Darkstorm chuckled at her attempts. "No. I will not let you go. I will however, sate your curiosity. You can ask me whatever you wish, and I shall answer. Do you wish to play that game?"

Artemis's eyes narrowed. "No!"

Darkstorm shrugged. "Have it your way, but if you forfeit now, you'll never learn anything to report to Zeus. So what shall it be?"

The goddess had never felt so helpless before. But she nodded regardless. He could read her mind anyway, and she was very curious.

"Yes. I can. Now ask."

The goddess frowned. "Why don't you tell me the answers already? You know what I'll ask."

He nodded. "True, but I don't know which order you'll ask them in."

Artemis sighed, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Okay. What is this language you were speaking in and what exactly are the Dearg Ruadhri?"

Darkstorm smiled. "That's two questions, but I shall answer nevertheless. Well, I was speaking in the language of Hen Llinge. It means Elder Speech. It's the language spoken before you gods came around. As for your second question, the Dearg Ruadhri translated to English means the 'Red Riders'. We call ourselves this since we spill blood wherever we go. Netherlands, for example. Thousands of dh'oine killed. Just spectacular."

Artemis frowned. "Okay. What are you exactly? You are not a god, but you can't be a demigod either. What are you."

Darkstorm nodded. "Well, I'm actually kind of surprised you haven't figured it out. I'm the result of a nature spirit. Happy?"

Artemis laughed. Heartily. She looked at Darkstorm. "Please. No nature spirit has that kind of power. You're a liar. A pathetic one."

Darkstorm's eyes narrowed. "Watch your words, Arianhydd. Do not mistake my lack of violence towards you for anything else. It is only your luck that I require you to be in good health. Otherwise I would have let Ira take you. After I no longer need you, you will be left in Ira's care, and he will make sure that you lose one of your domains. Virginity to be precise. And no, I am not lying. Sorry if the truth stings too much."

Artemis struggled against her bonds, nearly forgetting she was captured. Darkstorm's real voice was extremely silky and smooth, unlike how he sounded with his armour on. She felt terrified. She didn't know whether it was because she was captured and could get raped at any time, or because Darkstorm could read her thoughts and affect her thought process just by talking.

Once again her eyes glowed silver, but it didn't help. The chains didn't budge. The goddess's head rolled down in defeat as Darkstorm left the room.

"Don't strain yourself Artemis. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself too much. Just relax."

Later, Artemis would remember with horror, how her brain had subconsciously listened to him. After he left the room, she never tried to free herself. Not even when the chains suddenly disappeared and she fell to the floor. Instead, she stayed on the floor, her eyes glazed, and a little white.

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* * *

 **Authors note - Please bear with me on the Witcher references throughout this story. I just couldn't help it. Anyway, one thing. I HAVE CHANGED SOME THINGS IN THIS CHAPTER! IF YOU ARE RE-READING, THEN PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE CHANGES! THEY ARE IMPORTANT.**

 **THE LANGUAGE DARKSTORM IS USING TO SPEAK IS BASICALLY WHAT THE TITANS AND PRIMORDIALS SPOKE BEFORE THE GODS CAME AROUND!**

 **Also, when Darkstorm calls Artemis 'Arianhydd', it means 'Silver Stag', because her sacred animal is the stag.**

 **ALSO PLEASE REVIEW!**


	15. The Rescue of Artemis

**A/N: EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! PLEASE RE-READ CHAPTER 14 AND 15! I HAVE CHANGED SOME IMPORTANT FACTS! DARKSTORM'S ORIGIN STORY IS NO LONGER SOME BULLSHIT ABOUT HIM BEING FROM SOME ANCIENT RACE OF IMMORTAL PEOPLE!**

* * *

 _Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _Artemis struggled against her bonds, nearly forgetting she was captured. Darkstorm's real voice was extremely silky and smooth, unlike how he sounded with his armour on. She felt terrified. She didn't know whether it was because she was captured and could get raped at any time, or because Darkstorm could read her thoughts and affect her thought process just by talking._

 _Once again her eyes glowed silver, but it didn't help. The chains didn't budge. The goddess's head rolled down in defeat as Darkstorm left the room._

 _"Don't strain yourself Artemis. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself too much. Just relax."_

 _Later, Artemis would remember with horror, how her brain had subconsciously listened to him. After he left the room, she never tried to free herself. Not even when the chains suddenly disappeared and she fell to the floor. Instead, she stayed on the floor, her eyes glazed, and a little white._

* * *

( _Mark Hotel, New York City - Months Later_ )

Artemis told them nothing. Nothing at all, no matter what they would do.

Whatever Darkstorm had needed her for, he suddenly didn't. He changed his mind. He said something about his plans changing due to Hyperion's failure. So far, they had done nothing but beat her. And it hurt. It hurt badly. But she refused to show it. She was a goddess. An Olympian. Not some prepubescent girl.

Within these few months, she didn't utter a word about the gods or Olympus. She said nothing. But she heard everything. She finally understood why Darkstorm was so angry at Hyperion that day. Hyperion was supposed to capture Jason Grace, another illegitimate child of her father. Artemis couldn't believe how her father could cheat so much. It was unfathomable.

But anyway, she also learnt that while Hyperion attacked Camp Jupiter, the other titans had somehow forced themselves onto Olympus, attacking the gods in the throne room. In the throne room no less.

But, from what she gathered, that was just a one time deal. The titans were supposed to destroy the thrones. Some thrones at least. And Hyperion was supposed to capture Jason Grace and kill all of the Roman demigods.

Apparently, neither of those things had happened. She was glad about that, and it was good news like this which kept her going through all of the pain she suffered at their hands.

Darkstorm hadn't visited her since that day when he and Ira mocked her. Ira didn't either. But today, she couldn't help but feel a little fear. Apparently, another commander was supposed to arrive today. The one they called Nox.

None of the monsters took pity on her, and they took every chance they had to torment her.

But they talked freely around her, not bothering to hide facts. Were they so sure she would be trapped here forever? Nevertheless, she could already tell someone important was to arrive.

The Dearg Ruadhri entered the room, dressed in armour. Black armour with skulls for helmets. The design of the chestplate resembled a human ribcage, and under it was a metal she didn't recognize. They had long swords which were slightly curved at the end, like a leaf. The monsters slunk back, trying to stay away from the armoured soldiers.

The room suddenly went quiet. The door opened, and a man entered the room. Not a man. He was Nox. He was a general of the Dearg Ruadhri. Darkstorm's second in command.

His armour was different from the other Dearg Ruadhri soldiers. It was more detailed, and looked heavier. Instead of a long sword, he held a long staff which he held parallel to his body. At the top of the staff, there was a sphere, within which there was some type of blue energy she didn't recognise. His helmet was different too. It wasn't a skull, but it was a fancifully-capped helmet, it made Nox stand out from the other warriors of the Red Riders.

Nox turned to the guard. " **Ydy hi wedi dweud unrhyw beth eto?** " [Has she said anything yet?]

His voice was deep and emanated power, like Darkstorm's voice, but Nox didn't sound so demonic. He sounded more godly.

The guard shook his head. "Mae hi'n gwrthod siarad, fy arglwydd." [She refuses to speak, my lord.]

Artemis could not tell what expression he had under his helmet. But the way his hand tightened it's grip on his staff told her all she needed to know.

Nox removed his helmet and looked at Artemis in the eye. He had a roundish face, but not as much as Ira. Nox did not have any war paint either, but he wasn't bald. He had long hair that reached his shoulders. And his eyes were blue. Blue like the energy on the staff he held. She made the mistake of looking into those eyes. His eyes held untold power which drew her mind towards him. She could feel his magic trying to poke into her brain, and before she knew it, he was in.

Her head started to ache. It hurt worse than Zeus's head when Athena was inside him. It hurt more than anything she ever knew. Even Python's venom didn't hurt her so much. Even ... even the death of Zoe Nightshade didn't hurt her so much.

It wasn't just her brain that hurt. She could feel her emotions changing. For no reason at all, her heart grew heavier and heavier. So did her brain. A million bells rang through her mind, making her thrash around wildly, nearly breaking the chains. Wherever it was possible to feel pain, she felt it. All at once.

" **Quietly** ", ordered Nox, " **nothing, nothing is happening. You just want to tell us what interests us. You know what interests us, and you already want to push the words out of you. So, go ahead. Go on. You'll see that once you begin to talk, there will no longer be sounds in your head, pounding at your temples and in your ears until you can no longer stand it. And the pain in your body will go away.** "

A thin line of golden blood started to run from Artemis's left nostril. She was trying her best to resist his magic, and the pain that came with it.

" **Speak,** " ordered Nox. " **Speak. Tell me everything. You'll see that it is easier for you.** "

The goddess could only take so much before her mind gave in. She screamed, louder than she ever had before. Something snapped inside of her. The chains shattered, and Nox was thrown back several feet, landing on his back.

* * *

( _Upper East Manhattan_ )

It had taken months. Months of back breaking work for Percy and his friends to make the Greek and Roman demigods get along with each other. The first month they would have murdered each other in cold blood without blinking. Instigators were on both parties.

It did get better, and Chiron finally let Percy go once the two sets of demigods began to tolerate each other.

Percy was so glad for a break, which is why he angrily kicked the door of his house off it's hinges when the windows of every building and vehicle exploded at once. His ears rang when he heard the painful scream. It wasn't at any frequency heard by mortals. Only demigods and gods heard it.

Percy recognised it at once. Artemis.

Achilles and Jason looked at him, and he knew they had made the same conclusion.

Strangely enough, his laptop hadn't exploded into bits. Instead, it's lid was closed, and there were two ravens sitting on it, looking at him in an odd fashion before screeching angrily and flying away.

Percy frowned momentarily. What was that about?

He leaped out of his balcony, Jason and Achilles right behind him. On the street, there was an old man sitting on a bench, completely unaffected by the loud scream which shattered every glass object in New York. The two ravens were perched on his shoulders.

He looked at Percy. "You'd best hurry. She's in Mark Hotel."

Percy's eyes widened. "Who are-"

The man suddenly vanished.

" ... you?"

Achilles frowned at the bench. "Odd. Who was he?"

Percy shook his head. "You know what? I don't know, and I honestly don't care right now. Let's go to Mark Hotel. Why the hell is she at a hotel anyway?"

"If she's even there. That could be someone misleading us.", Achilles said.

Jason shook his head in disagreement. "I don't think so. The sound did emanate from that direction, and that seems most likely, considering it has got one of the biggest suites. Great place to hold a goddess ... assuming she's de-powered by some divine chains.

Percy cursed. "The nerve. Right under our noses the whole time!"

* * *

The Red Riders stood in front of Nox's fallen body. His energy which had entered Artemis's mind was thrown back at him with ten times the force when Artemis lost it and let loose.

She could feel her power slowly returning. The spell which rendered her powerless was waning. She glanced to the side, where one of the dark long swords was lying. She held her hand out and it flew into her hand.

The plan of the three Riders was simple – force the goddess to retreat against the wall, and then two would block her while the third maimed her. Nothing came of it. For one simple reason. The goddess did not retreat, but attacked.

She slid a pirouette dance between them, so fluid that she barely touched the floor. She hit soldier one in passing, and he fell down right there. She had hit him at a major artery. The blow was so light that she did not even lose her rhythm, she was so elegant and so quick that the opposite rotation was over before a single drop of blood had splashed from the newly elongated neck of soldier one.

Soldier two, who was behind her, wanted to beat her in the neck, but the treacherous blow hit a parry on the back of the curved sword. Artemis turned off, sprung, and struck a blow with both hands, which was reinforced with a sharp hip flexing to give it even more power. The dark blade was like a razor, she slit open his hissing and smacking stomach. Soldier two howled and fell, huddled on the floor.

Soldier three approached and jumped, trying to cut the goddess's throat. She fell, but with a twist. She turned fluently and gave him a short cut with the middle of the blade to split his face, eye, nose, mouth, and chin.

Soldier three sobbed with his hands on the face. From under his fingers oozed blood mixed with mucus and saliva. Soldier two was rolling and squealing like a pig. Soldier one was trying to claw his way over the floor, which was slippery with the blood that spurted out of him to the beat of his heart.

She glanced at the sword she held, and took a deep breath. Her powers had not yet fully returned, and she couldn't teleport out. But she didn't mind. She wanted to slaughter everyone, for all the pain they caused her. Skull faced soldiers entered the room. A dozen of them. Artemis gave them a smile which sent shivers down their spines. Her sword was still slick with red blood.

* * *

It didn't take long for Percy, Jason and Achilles to reach the Hotel, and immediately they knew something was off. It was when they smashed through the gates and reached the top floors that they noticed the horrific scene in front of them.

The upper floor of the penthouse suite was gone. Instead, there was only a large white room, and they saw Artemis there. Percy almost didn't recognise her. She was covered in blood. Both gold and red. Dozens of what seemed like men lay dead beside her. Their armour was nothing like they had seen and they had skulls for heads.

Artemis seemed to be sobbing and laughing at the same time. She was broken. More skull faced men entered and Percy lost it.

When one of the soldiers attacked, Percy dodged the blow with a half spin and hit him just below the temple. Even before the soldier fell, Percy made a throwing motion – a throwing star whizzed through the air and another attacking soldier staggered, the throwing star jutting out from under his chin. The soldier dropped his sword and tore the star out with both hands. Blood poured from his throat as Jason jumped up and kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Meanwhile, Percy had cut down another soldier. Achilles gave one mighty blow with his Bronze sword and the head of a soldier fell, somewhat in the shape of a portion of melon. The last soldier retreated and ran. Achilles heaved up his sword, grabbed it by the blade and threw it like a spear. It hit the soldier right between the shoulder blades.

Everything had happened in no more than five heartbeats.

Percy knelt next to Artemis.

"Hey, Arty.", he said in a soothing voice. "It's okay. We're here now. Let's get you away from here."

The goddess didn't put up a fight. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell into his arms, soaking his shirt in blood and tears.

They were about to leave, but the room suddenly changed. Percy found himself alone, in a room which was blue throughout. He frowned, and when he turned around, he saw one of the fallen soldiers. But he didn't look like a soldier. More like a commander.

The two of them walked around in a circle, gauging each other. Percy's opponent held a long staff with slue energy on it's end. He made a mental note to stay away from that.

"Who are you?", Percy asked.

" **My name is Nox, but that does not matter. All that matters is your death, and I shall cause it.** "

Percy scoffed. "Tough words, big guy.". The demigod twirled his black sword with his right hand. "Care to back that up?"

Nox did not answer.

Percy's sword stopped twirling and he now held it in a reverse position, the way you held a dagger. The blade pointed away. Without warning, Percy suddenly rushed forward and jumped, before spinning and slashing across. But Nox was ready. He barely moved his staff a little and blocked the sword.

Without losing momentum, Percy continued. He raised the sword above his head and struck hard. Nox had to grip his staff with both hands to stop the blow. The sword was taken backwards, and Percy continued the motion with fluidity, striking at Nox as he put one foot forward.

Nox did the same, lowering the staff as he did so. The blow created a shockwave, disturbing all matter around them. Percy quickly spun and delivered the same blow again, only for Nox to block it again. But this time, Nox continued the motion by raising his staff and sweeping it in a low circle.

The demigod easily jumped over it, spinning as he did. When Percy landed, he spun again, creating momentum and struck hard against the staff, splitting a small piece out of it, shortening the staff.

Nox staggered, before he regained balance.

Percy gave a small smirk as he twirled his sword and held it properly.

Nox glared at him and swung the stuff upwards, hoping to catch Percy by surprise. The demigod's stance became wider and he switched to a two handed grip as he lowered the sword to parry the blow. Immediately, Percy spun and parried another blow from the other end of the staff. He suddenly changed direction of the sword and swung it at Nox's head, but the staff was there to block it. Not relenting, Percy moved the sword down and swung it from the left towards Nox's feet. Nox blocked that too. But Percy continued the path, grinding his sword against the metal staff, and the disarming technique almost worked, but Nox left one hand and flipped the staff so that the energy sphere faced Percy. Before the demigod could think, a sphere of energy blasted him backwards.

Percy landed on his feet and kept balance by digging the sword through the floor. He looked up to see the metal staff swinging towards his head. Percy got to one knee and parried the blow, before Nox swung at him, making him spin a half pirouette before swinging downwards at Nox, forcing the latter to hold his staff with both hands above his head.

Suddenly, Nox batted aside the sword with his gauntlet and tried to hit Percy with the end of the staff, but the demigod ducked under the swing and spun barely fast enough to block a direct blow from Nox's staff. Unfortunately, the blow was so powerful that it staggered the demigod. Before Percy could regain balance, he was kicked in the chest roughly, sending him sprawling to the ground.

He moved his head to the left as Nox's staff came crashing onto the ground, creating a web of cracks. Nox spun and swung hard at Percy, but the demigod rolled under the swing and stood up. Percy swung hard at Nox, who was unprotected. The blow might have split Nox in half, but he suddenly disappeared. Percy sensed something behind him but he was too late.

He couldn't bring his sword up in time as the spherical orb of the staff smashed straight into his gut, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying through the wall. The last thing he heard was Nox talking. " **You lose again, Perseus.** "

When Percy stood up painfully, he was no longer in the blue room. He was at Olympus, where all the gods were standing around him. Some were confused while some had concerned faces. Except Artemis, who wasn't there.

Poseidon helped Percy up. "What happened, son?"

Percy looked around him in confusion. "What the? Where's that bastard?! How did I get here?!"

Poseidon frowned. "What do you mean? Achilles told me that when you found Artemis, you passed out yourself. They brought you here."

Apollo cleared his throat. "Speaking of Artemis, I don't know where the fake one is. The impostor is missing."

Achilles frowned. "So is the real Artemis. When Percy went unconscious, Artemis had vanished. We were so close. We had got her, and she disappeared again."

Zeus's grip on his Master Bolt tightened. He smashed his fist against the armrest of his throne, cracking it. "DAMN IT!". The god's gaze frightened all the gods. "You will all be committed to one task only from now on. Finding my daughter."

No one argued.

* * *

( _Unknown Location_ )

Artemis was on her knees, but not in chains. Her vision was blurred. The power she regained was taken away from her again, and she felt weaker than when she was chained. All she knew was that they were on grass. She could feel the warmth of the mud on her knees.

Darkstorm stood in front of her, and beside him was another man. His face was oval shaped and sharp featured, unlike Ira or Nox. He had greyish white hair which came down a little further than his shoulders. This was Koios, the Titan of Intellect.

Darkstorm had a stony expression on his face. He spoke. "Agorwch" [Open it.]

The titan was a little nervous. "Wyt ti'n siwr?" [Are you sure?]

Darkstorm sneered, and grabbed the small rectangular box from the titan's hands. He opened it, and an almost transparent smoke was released. The smoke at first seemed to go up, but it suddenly went straight into Artemis through her nostrils and ears.

"She must pay for her mistakes, Koios. I warned her."

Darkstorm smiled cruelly. Then he began chanting. His voice became demonic. " **Va fail, elaine - caed'mil, folie! Glaeddyv dorne aep t'enaid, bunn'droh ithne i'yachus!** "

Koios's face turned. His mouth hung agape in horror. "Darkstorm! What have you done?!"

Darkstorm smiled, sending shivers down the titan's spine. "I've given her what she deserves."

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* * *

 **A/N: This chapter was fun to write, I'll admit. I bet many of you thought Artemis would be rescued, right? I'm not really sorry about that, because I want her capture to mean something. This is not the original PJO. When I'm done with this story, you will know what suffering and torment is.**

 **Oh, and Witcher 3 players will understand what Darkstorm did at the end.**

 **And of course, please review, etc.**


	16. Friends With Benefits

**A/N: I'm mildly upset. I released two chapters (14 and 15), and all I got was two reviews. TWO! I will still continue to update, but if you guys don't review then I don't see how I can fix the flaws in my story. I almost didn't want to upload the next chapter, but at least two people did review.**

 **I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, but I've read fanfics much shorter and much worse and those have literally hundreds of reviews. SO please review! It doesn't matter if you're a guest user, just type your thoughts about the story. I'm not Anaklusmos14 or someone who can write up amazing stories in a jiffy. It is really difficult. I had to sit for six hours straight for this chapter alone. I've put in more than a hundred hours for this story so try to understand my frustration when I check the reviews and all I see is no update. If you like the story, please tell me that. If you don't like it, then say that too. I won't criticise your opinion. Just be honest.**

 **Sorry for the rant. I do understand you guys if you didn't review. I myself didn't write any reviews on any stories until I started to write my own stories. But please do review.**

* * *

 _Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _"She must pay for her mistakes, Koios. I warned her."_

 _Darkstorm smiled cruelly. Then he began chanting. His voice became demonic. " **Va fail, elaine - caed'mil, folie! Glaeddyv dorne aep t'enaid, bunn'droh ithne i'yachus!** "_

 _Koios's face turned. His mouth hung agape in horror. "Darkstorm! What have you done?!"_

 _Darkstorm smiled, sending shivers down the titan's spine. "I've given her what she deserves."_

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Percy sat on the bunk of the bed in the Poseidon cabin, with his hands over his head. Losing Artemis all over again was not a good experience for him. She was one of his best friends, and seeing her in such a vulnerable state had sent him into a frenzy.

But, he sighed, that wasn't enough to rescue her. He felt anger. Anger at Nox, who was probably the one who distracted him while Artemis got kidnapped. Again. He felt anger at himself. Why? Why couldn't he beat Nox?

It seemed to Percy that all he was doing these days was losing. First, he lost to Darkstorm. Twice. Now, he couldn't even save his best friend from being kidnapped.

Although, Percy supposed, it made a little sense. He understood now why Artemis never talked to him for the past few months. Because it wasn't Artemis. It was some impostor. Probably the lackey of some titan. Or even Darkstorm's lackey. Whoever it was, they knew magic. Magic which should at least be on par with goddesses like Hecate.

Percy's eyes suddenly widened. "Of course!"

He felt like slapping himself. Who else could weave an illusion powerful enough to fool Olympians? The goddess of magic herself. Hecate.

He grabbed his swords and his belt and put them on. He hurriedly tied his shoe-laces and put on his inner gloves before wearing his gauntlets over them. Then, he made a mental checklist of his gear before heading out of the cabin.

Anyone who saw the demigod right now would think he was insane, dressing like a bandit/assassin and walking around the camp. Well, his armour actually had more uses than that. Firstly, it was fairly resistant to magic and was actually a good defence against most monsters and even some gods. Something he was going to need to have if he was about to go around accusing Hecate, a powerful goddess in her own right.

His gauntlets were recently fitted with ground-breaking tech, courtesy of Hephaestus. Now, there was a small flap on the part of his gauntlet which was just below his palm if he held his arm out. When lifted, it revealed a screen, which acted as a tracking system to track powerful monsters, and if he really wanted, he could even use it to track gods and goddesses. But Hephaestus warned him not to do so, since said gods would probably vaporise him if they found out.

And yeah, he did try to use it to track Artemis. Several times. But the tracker would keep showing him multiple locations, like how an IP address could be bounced, this too was being bounced somehow.

Percy turned his wrists in a circle to loosen them, before heading inside the Big House.

Chiron, the millions-of-years-old centaur, raised an eyebrow. "What's this? Going somewhere?"

Dionysus chuckled. "Look Perry, you are not scoring anyone with that costume."

Percy stared at the wine god. Said god was relaxed. A little too relaxed. He looked really comfortable in his tiger themed outfit and the way he lazily sipped his juice irritated the demigod. Why was he here? Didn't Zeus order the Olympians to look for Artemis?

"And you're not doing your job."

Chiron grew concerned. "Percy ...", he started, glancing at the wine god, whose eyes narrowed as he stopped sipping his juice and stood up, glaring at the demigod.

Percy shook his head at Chiron, telling him stay out of it. "So, you're not even concerned about Artemis missing, is that it?", Percy demanded.

Dionysus grabbed the demigod by the collar, slamming him against the wall. Percy could've sworn the wall nearly crumbled, but the demigod stared right back at the god's glowing purple eyes.

"Listen here, you little shit-"

With a quick movement which surprised even Dionysus, Percy turned his head to the side and grabbed the god's hands and used the back of his wrists to swat them away and push the wine god backwards a few steps.

"No, you listen.", Percy said. "Artemis is missing, and now we learn she was captured for the last five months. And here you are, sipping orange juice."

The wine god stared at him, then looked at his outfit, then stared back at the demigod. "Just because I'm relaxing and sipping orange juice does not mean I'm not looking for her. I am. I have. She is nowhere to be found. Don't pour out your insecurities and blame others for your mistakes."

Percy glared at him. "Mine? My mistakes?! Who's the ones who let her get captured in the first place?! Oh right, the Olympians!"

Dionysus sneered at him before picking up his newspaper from the coffee table. "You act like we always know where each and every god is at all times. This is not a comic book. We can't just magically sense where a god or goddess is every time. Sometimes, their aura is shielded, kind of like right now. If you're so angry at us, go and shout at Zeus."

Percy didn't answer, choosing to scoff instead.

Dionysus stared at Percy. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Now get lost, before I turn you into a dolphin and have you jumping through rings to entertain the campers."

Chiron watched the two bicker like he was seeing a tennis match. Upon hearing Dionysus's ultimatum, the centaur quickly herded the demigod out of the Big House, where he proceeded to slap him.

"OW!", Percy exclaimed, clutching the side of his face. "What was that for?!"

Chiron glared at him. "For behaving like a brat, and nearly getting killed for your insolence. What is wrong with you?!"

Percy relented. "I'm sorry. I just- I can't handle it. Who knows what they're doing to Artemis right now?! I need to find her!"

Chiron sighed. "Look, Perseus. I know you are worried, and you are right to be worried. But that doesn't mean you go and accuse gods like Dionysus for not doing their jobs. You are not a teenager anymore. I thought ... I thought you would be more mature than this. Now tell me why you came to me."

Percy didn't answer. He took a deep breath, his anger receding. "I needed to confirm something. I need to go to Olympus, so if you would grant access?"

Chiron frowned. "What for? I hope you are not going to pull a stunt like this against any of the other gods. Some of them are begging for an excuse to finish you. You know that, right?"

"I do.", Percy said. "But that's not why I'm going. I need to speak to Hecate."

"Why?" Chiron asked.

"Because,", Percy started. "The council was tricked into believing that Artemis was rescued. Everything about the fake Artemis fooled them. I need to ask Hecate about this. She might know more."

Chiron shook his head. "No. I can't give you access. I can't have you going and accusing Hecate. She will definitely kill you if you do that."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to do that. I know Hecate."

"Fine." Chiron said. "And while you're at it, try and find out if the gods have learnt anything. You know that Artemis used to be my ward too."

Percy frowned. "She was?"

"Yes.", Chiron said, confused at Percy's confusion. "You didn't know? Who do you think taught her archery?"

Percy's eyes widened. "You what?! Seriously?! I'm gonna have to talk to Apollo about this. How come he didn't tell me?"

Chiron sighed. "The pride of gods and goddesses. How can an Olympian admit to others that they learnt all they knew from a centaur of all creatures."

Percy frowned. "I learnt all I have from you. And I'm proud of it."

Chiron laughed. "And I'm happy for that. But not everyone is like you, Percy. Think about that when you meet Hecate. Please try to keep a clear head."

Percy nodded. "Alright. Now please, give me access."

"Sure.", Chiron said. The centaur bent his legs, and Percy watched in fascination as the horse body morphed into a wheelchair. The transformation was smooth and flawless, and once it was over, Chiron looked like a completely different person.

"Wow.", Percy exclaimed. "That never gets old."

Chiron smiled, before pressing a button on the arm of his wheelchair which opened a screen. There was a list of names, names of all gods and goddesses and several demigods as well. Chiron scrolled to Percy's name and pressed it, turning the text from red to green.

Percy frowned. "Wait, so _you_ control who goes to Olympus? Even the gods?!"

Chiron smiled. "All but my siblings."

Percy's eyes widened. "Holy shit!"

Chiron laughed. "Yes. Indeed. Although there is nothing holy about sh-"

"Bye Chiron!", Percy exclaimed before he pressed a button on his gauntlet, which opened a blue portal in front of him which he jumped into. The last thing he needed right now was one of Chiron's legendary lectures.

Chiron sighed. "The kids these days. Always so hasty."

Chiron frowned as he heard something. He could've sworn it was a two weapons clashing against each other.

CLANG!

The centaur's eyes widened before he turned into his centaur form and galloped to the source of the sound.

It was in front of one of the cabins. The Ares cabin to be precise. There were several demigods crowded there. He could see a commotion going on, and he didn't like it. A stocky, but pudgy faced boy was on the ground. Pieter Jansen, the newly arrived son of Athena had a sword out, which hovered above the boy, protecting him from another sword which nearly struck the boy.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!", the centaur bellowed as he neared them.

The white haired demigod took one look at the centaur and looked back at the demigod who had attacked. He flicked his wrist and disarmed the offending demigod before reaching his hand out to the fallen demigod.

Despite being lighter and looking lighter, Pieter didn't budge when the offending demigod tried to push him. Instead, with one hand he shoved him away and with the other he helped the fallen demigod up.

Pieter smiled apologetically at the demigod. "What is your name?"

The fallen demigod was surprised at being offered help. "My name is Frank."

"You a Roman, Frank?", Pieter asked.

Before Frank could answer, Chiron arrived at the scene. Pieter stared at the group of demigods who had ambushed Frank. They were all Greek, some being sons of Ares and some being children of Apollo or Athena, even.

"Just a misunderstanding, Chiron. The Greeks were just introducing themselves to Frank.". Pieter's eyes narrowed at the group of demigods. "Am I right?"

The demigods nodded furiously before scampering off. Chiron sighed. "Thank you, Pieter."

Pieter smiled. "No problem, Chiron."

Chiron nodded before heading in the direction of the offending demigods.

"Thanks a lot, man.", Frank said gratefully. "If you hadn't stepped in..."

"Say no more.", Pieter said. "Now let's get those wounds looked at."

Frank frowned, before he looked at his body. There were several cuts, mostly in no lethal areas. They were maiming him, and he might have gotten badly hurt too. "Uh ... right. Thanks again. I'll go to the camp store to buy ambrosia.".

He said ambrosia like it was a foreign word, and in a way, it was. He was Roman, and they didn't call it that.

"No need.", Pieter said. He held his palm out and a square appeared out of thin air. Ambrosia.

Frank's eyes widened. "How did you do that?! You just conjured it up!"

Pieter smiled, unnerving the demigod. "Trade secret. Now take it, or spend your precious money at the store."

Frank reached out hesitantly before taking the ambrosia square. This Pieter made him feel uneasy, but Frank didn't think much of that since this guy practically saved him from a world of hurt.

"Now, Frank Zhang, tell me more about yourself."

Frank hesitated, but Pieter's eyes glowed a little, turning slightly white for a split second. Frank didn't notice it, but Pieter's fingers were also curled in an irregular fashion at the same time as his eyes glowed.

Frank smiled genuinely, his fears allayed. He suddenly didn't care about anything other than to listen to Pieter. "Sure. Where do I start?"

* * *

( _Olympus_ )

Percy landed in Olympus. The market square to be exact.

"Wow.", Percy exclaimed. Even the market square of Olympus looked better than the best cities. It just showed how much more advanced the gods were than the humans, both physically and intellectually.

The aesthetics of the golden city always amazed him, and every time he visited it he felt that he noticed something new. Like an old movie which you'd keep re-watching because something is always there.

Olympus was big. Percy had to admit. It was really really big. Although the number of inhabitants in the city weren't as much as a mortal city, the size of Olympus was probably several times larger than even New York.

He chuckled. If it weren't for the mist, he doubted that the residents of New York would see the sun or the skies. All they'd see would be a gigantic floating island above. Speaking of which, he wondered what the clear sighted mortals would see. They'd probably be terrified, and naturally other people would think they're crazy.

As Percy walked past the market place, he came to it's end. At the end, there was a sign post. It read:

RESTRICTED AREA! GODS AND GODDESSES ONLY!

Percy smirked, before walking past it. Rules were made to be broken. He was honestly surprised when he didn't hear alarms blaring like there was no tomorrow. Didn't that happen usually? He remembered it happening in Persephone's bedroom.

He shook his head. Maybe they never thought someone would actually dare to just stroll into the god's territory. But boy was he glad he did.

The entire area afterwards was heavenly. There was a perfect breeze around, and the palaces and temples rose high, with each palace varying in size according to the god's respective ego, Percy supposed. During the quest to rescue Artemis, he remembered Luke incessantly talking about Annabeth, a child of Athena. She would probably have an orgasm looking at the marvellous architecture.

It didn't take him long to find Hecate's palace. It wasn't the biggest, but it was definitely one of the most glamorous. The palace was more like a really large building, and the floors were continuously turning and rotating. The walls of the building continuously changed into different materials, giving Percy a headache just looking at it. How could Hecate stay here?

He walked to the front doors, and was stopped by what he could only describe as extremely beautiful women. No. He shook his head. The mist was very strong here, and he could feel it permeating his mind. He blinked several times, and the women looked like empousai. Ugly creatures.

"Perseussss.", the empousai hissed. "Thissss issss ressstricted area."

Percy frowned. "Relax. I just want to talk to Hecate."

The empousai frowned, and they looked at each other. "Leave your weaponssss here."

Percy sighed. "Alright.". He undid his belt, to which 'Maelstrom', his Stygian Iron sword was attached. To the belt, his throwing stars were also attached. He also undid a strap on his chest, which let him remove his twin Celestial Bronze swords on his back. He handed both to the empousai.

"Don't lose them."

The empousai hissed. "All your weaponssss."

Percy's face fell. "Damn.". He took out his pistol along with the holster and also removed a dagger from his ankle. He handed it over. "Happy."

The empousai brought forth a metal scanner, like the ones used at malls and airports. But this one scanned for godly metals. It beeped.

"That's my armour, or do you prefer me to walk in nude?"

The empousai glared at him before stepping aside. Percy entered, and once again he was hit with a wave of mist. It was extremely strong, and it made him see what he wanted to see. Artemis. He shook his head wildly, clearing his vision. He focused on the task at hand.

As the mist cleared, he saw the palace in it's true form. Or at least, it was the form Hecate kept it as for the time being. The inside looked like a really big mansion, complete with the curved staircases in the centre.

His eyebrows raised when he looked at the top of the staircase. There was a woman there, wearing a revealing black dress. It barely covered her chest and left a _lot_ of room for imagination. Her black hair reached down to the middle of her back and was styled like a model's and she had distinctly violet coloured irises which shone brightly.

As the woman walked down the steps, the demigod became more and more impressed. She looked really different from the last time he saw her.

The woman smiled, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. "Hello Perseus. It's been a long time."

The demigod shook his head as he came face to face with her. "Uh ... hi, Hecate."

Hecate frowned for a moment, and then smiled. "Impressive. There are even some gods who cannot see through the magic of my palace. But you managed."

Percy smirked. "Let's just say I've a lot of practice."

Hecate laughed. "Alright, Perseus. Tell me, why did you come?"

Percy's smiled dropped. A few moments ago, he intentions were to barge in and demand that she answer his questions. But she just was so beautiful and so nice that he didn't say it. Instead he said, "I need your help."

"Help?", Hecate asked. "What kind?"

Her voice sent shivers of happiness down his spine, but he knew it was just her magic. "Just a few questions."

Hecate smiled wider. "Okay."

Percy was taken aback. "Okay? You'll just answer them? Just like that?"

Hecate shook her head. "Of course not.".

Percy's mind slapped itself. He knew it. A god or goddess was never nice. They always wanted a favour in return. It was always something along the lines of 'Please go fetch this for me.' or 'Kill this person for me'.

Hecate frowned. "You misunderstand, Perseus. I will answer your questions, but not here. Let's go and eat ice cream."

Percy reckoned that at that point, he must have given the dumbest expression possible, since all that came out of his mouth was: "Huh?"

Hecate smirked. "Oh, Percy. Wipe that dumb look off your face. Not all of us are manipulative shrews."

Percy shook his head slightly. "Yeah? I'll believe that when I see it."

Before the demigod could protest, the goddess snapped her fingers, and the surroundings changed. In an instant, he found himself in the inside of an ice cream parlour, on earth, or so he thought.

He jumped a little when he saw his reflection in the mirror. His clothes were changed. He found himself wearing light blue jeans and a Game of Thrones t-shirt. Hecate smirked at him, her violet eyes dimmed a little in brightness, but it still shone with mirth.

"I like that show. Did you know that Season eight is coming after a year! One YEAR!"

Percy frowned. "Yeah. I do, actually."

Hecate looked surprised. "You watch mortal shows? I thought you were too busy being the Olympian's lap dog."

Percy frowned. "It's not like that. I help them, they help me."

"Sure.", Hecate said. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Percy frowned further.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop, but please stop making that face. You don't look nice when you frown.", Hecate pleaded.

Percy sighed. The waitress came over, something that doesn't usually happen in an ice cream parlour. You were usually expected to order at the counter. Percy shrugged and ordered himself a blueberry ice cream. He looked at Hecate, who raised an eyebrow at the blueberry. "I'll have the same.", she said to the waitress.

The young girl did a little bow and left.

Percy laughed a little. "Ice cream parlours don't generally employ waitresses. We're still in your palace aren't we?"

"So, Percy. You wanted to ask me some questions?", Hecate said, while leaning back a little. It was then that Percy realised that she had changed her own clothes. She wasn't exactly dressed like a goddess anymore, but like a rebellious teenager from a fantasy novel.

He was able to look at her up close now. A pale triangular face, violet eyes and narrow, slightly contorted lips appeared beneath the black tresses. She had pretty shoulders, a shapely neck and, around it, a black velvet choker with a star-shaped jewel sparkling with diamonds. Around the black velvet choker, he could see white collar which was tilted upward, covering the back of her neck. The first two buttons of her shirt were unfastened and the third was loosely held by a thin brown rope. The shirt itself was unique, something Percy didn't see often. It's collar was white and thin, but most of the rest of the shirt was more like a jacket, and it was black. In fact, now that he noticed, her entire outfit was black and white.

Hecate smirked at the demigod. "Like what you see?", she teased.

Percy turned red as he looked back up to see her smug face. "... You reading my mind?"

"Problem?", Hecate asked. "You've got some interesting thoughts."

Before he could retort, the waitress arrived. She placed their orders on the table and left. It was then that Percy noticed that the waitress was an empousai.

The demigod stuck his spoon into the blueberry. "Getting back to the matter at hand, ", Percy started, his face still a little red. "I wanted to ask you about the impostor who posed as Artemis. Do you have an idea of how it might have been done? It's not exactly easy to fool the council."

The goddess nodded. "Of course. That's how the master bolt was stolen, isn't it? Because it's so difficult to fool the council."

Percy stared at her with a deadpanned expression. "Come on."

"What?", Hecate said, taking a spoonful of blueberry ice cream in her mouth.

Percy sighed. "Alright. Was it the mist or a spell that was used to fool the Olympians?"

"You tell me. Mist is for humans, remember?"

Percy frowned. "A spell, then. Do you know which one might have been used?"

"Maybe.", Hecate drawled.

Percy sighed. "Okay. What are the ingredients of the spell?"

Hecate set her cup on the table and rested her elbows on it, her fingers clasped in a lock. She seemed to contemplate for a moment before she looked at the demigod with a serious face. "Hmm.", she said. "The blood of a newborn, a virgin's tongue and the eye of a newt."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm being serious."

"So am I.", Hecate exclaimed. "Spells only require the use of magical energy, which can be harnessed by both gods and mortals. Although, the amount usable by mortals is less than negligible."

"But how?", Percy asked. "Wouldn't such an illusion take a lot of energy?"

Hecate nodded, this time, she really was serious. "Yes. But I don't know who did this, but I know that he or she is very dangerous. This kind of magic is something even I can't do easily."

"Hmm. Interesting.", Percy said. "I think I'll leave then. Got lots of investigating to do."

He was about to leave, bu the goddess called after him. "Wait, Percy. Will you stay for a while? Contrary to what you may think, I don't actually have many friends."

Percy sat back down. "Somehow, I find that hard to believe."

"I'm not.", the goddess exclaimed. "I- I actually like your company. You're not like most people. I find that quite refreshing."

The demigod's mouth twitched, forming a small smile. "Really? This conversation is getting more and more interesting."

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Luke was not having a good day. There was growing tensions about the titans rising, and according to his father, Artemis was captured. Apparently, they had never rescued her. He frowned. He distinctly remembered the goddess there. She even was there in the throne room. How?

He didn't put much thought to that. He decided to go to the amphitheatre to practice sword-fighting. It always helped clear his mind. Plus, recent months showed him that he was not at all the best swordsman. Perseus, for one, was way better. His two friends, Jason and Achilles, who by the way were legendary heroes whose tales spoke for them.

He walked into the amphitheater and his heart almost stopped. In the middle of the arena floor, with its back to him, was the most dangerous and deadliest creature he head ever seen.

It was a dragon. Not your average dragon like Peleus who guarded the camp. No, this one was smaller, but it's movements were quick. Luke could see it dashing around the arena. He had no idea how it had gotten past the camp's magic boundaries. It looked right at home, lying on its belly, growling contentedly and snorting flames as it chewed the head off a combat dummy. It hadn't noticed him yet, but if he made a sound, he knew it would sense him. There was no time to go for help. He held out his hand and a bronze blade appeared in it.

"Yaaaaah!" He charged. Luke brought down the blade on the dragon's enormous backside when out of nowhere another sword blocked his strike.

CLANG!

The dragon growled as it turned around, a dangerous look in it's eyes.

Luke jumped back and instinctively struck at the swordsman—a white-haired man with ruby red eyes. He parried the attack with no problem.

"Whoa there!" Pieter said. "Truce!"

"That's a dragon!" Luke shouted.

"It's harmless," the man said. "That's Draco."

Luke blinked. "Draco?"

At the sound of it's name, the hellhound growled again. Luke realized it wasn't angry. It was excited. It nudged the soggy, badly chewed target dummy toward Pieter.

"Good Draco," the man said. With his free hand he grabbed the armoured manikin by the neck and heaved it toward the bleachers. "Get the Greek! Get the Greek!", he said a little too excitedly.

Luke sheathed his sword. "So how did you?"

"Get a dragon for a pet? Long story, involving many close calls with a death and quite a few giant laser cannons. I'm the new sword instructor, by the way. Helping out Chiron while Dionysus is away."

"Oh." Luke tried not to stare as Draco ripped off the target dummy's shield with the arm still attached and shook it like a Frisbee. "Wait, Mr. D is away? I saw him today?"

"Yes, well, he left a few hours ago. Even Dionysus must help out. He's gone to look for a certain goddess. I probably shouldn't say more than that."

If Dionysus was gone, that was the best news Luke had heard all day. He was only the camp director because Zeus had sent him here as a punishment for chasing some off-limits wood nymph. He hated the campers and tried to make their lives miserable. With him away, Luke thought this month might actually be cool. On the other hand, if Dionysus had gotten off his ass and actually started helping the gods against the Titan threat, things must be looking pretty bad.

Off to his left, Luke heard a loud BUMP. Six wooden crates the size of picnic tables were stacked nearby, and they were rattling. Draco cocked it's head and bounded toward them.

"Draco!" Pieter said. "Those aren't for you." He distracted it with the bronze shield Frisbee.

The crates thumped and shook. There were words printed on the sides, but with his dyslexia it took Luke a few minutes to decipher:

TRIPLE G RANCH FRAGILE THIS END UP

Along the bottom, in smaller letters:

OPEN WITH CARE. TRIPLE G RANCH IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROPERTY DAMAGE, MAIMING, OR EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL DEATHS.

"What's in the boxes?" Luke asked.

"A little surprise," Pieter said. "Training activity for tomorrow night. You'll love it."

"Uh, okay," Luke said, though he wasn't sure about the "excruciatingly painful death" part.

Pieter threw the bronze shield, and Draco lumbered after it. "You new generation demigods need more challenges, more training. They didn't have camps like this when I was a boy."

Luke frowned. "Pieter, right? I heard you're from Netherlands."

Pieter smiled. "Yes. I am. I'm also one hundred and fifty years old."

"Oh.", Luke said.

Luke wanted to ask a few things, but just then Chiron clip-clopped into the arena. "Luke, there you are!"

He must've just come from teaching archery. He had a quiver and bow slung over his back. He'd trimmed his curly brown hair and beard for the summer, and his lower half, which was a white stallion, was flecked with mud and grass.

"I see you've met Pieter Jansen." Chiron's tone was light, but there was an uneasy look in his eyes. "Pieter, do you mind if I borrow Luke?"

"Not at all, Master Chiron."

"No need to call me 'Master'," Chiron said, though he sounded sort of pleased. "Come, Luke. We have much to discuss."

He took one more glance at Draco, who was now chewing off the target dummy's legs.

"Well, see you," Luke told Pieter.

As they were walking away, Luke whispered to Chiron, "This Pieter seemed kind of—"

"Mysterious?" Chiron suggested. "Hard to read?"

"Yeah."

Chiron nodded. "The qualities of most old half-bloods. He's also an excellent swordsman and extremely intelligent. Maybe even more so than Perseus."

Luke's eyes widened. "More than Perseus? Chiron, no offence, but I doubt it. I've seen Percy do some pretty crazy things, like manhandling Dr. Thorn or finishing off a Nemean Lion easily. No way Pieter is better."

Chiron frowned. "He never told me that."

Luke chuckled. "You know, he's actually pretty modest."

"I know.", Chiron said. "I taught him, remember. But enough about that. I called you aside because Grover wants you."

"Where is he?" Luke asked.

"At his formal hearing," Chiron said grimly. "The Council of Cloven Elders is meeting now to decide his fate."

* * *

( _Later that night, Olympus, Palace of Hecate_ )

"So, what are you going to do now, Percy?", the goddess asked.

Percy sighed, sipping his wine. "Well, I uh ... guess I'm going to check up on those leads you gave me. I guess I'll start by scanning the earth for places of great magical powers other than Olympus and Orthrys."

Hecate laughed. "No, Percy. I mean, what are you going to do? You always are busy with something or the other, but have you ever thought of what you want to do with your life? You have literally been living the life of a bounty hunter for more than two thousand years."

Percy was lost for words. "I ... don't know.", he admitted. Sad thing to admit, but he really didn't know what to do. He was always constantly on some mission or the other, travelling from place to place, and in rare cases even to other planets.

Hecate sighed. "Well, I for one am going to help you find this person who kidnapped Artemis."

"You are?", Percy asked, a little surprised.

Hecate smirked. "Not all gods simply sit by as the enemy picks us off one by one. And I did like Artemis. She wasn't like the others."

Percy looked down, remembering his friend. Hecate noticed his expression. "Ugh. I'm sorry.", she said. "Such a gloomy subject to broach ... I simply shouldn't have. Not during our date."

Percy's eyebrows raised. "Date? Thought we did this as friends?"

The goddess looked at him with a playful smirk. "Friends ... with benefits."

Percy's eyebrows raised. 'Wow!', his brain thought.

"So?", Hecate asked, her expression showing her lust.

Percy's smile turned into a smirk. "Your palace. Your rules."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I've decided that the pairing for Percy will be Hecate, the goddess of magic. Why did I choose her? Well, I chose her more or less because she's almost a non-existent character in the books, and she only appears in one chapter. She will be completely different from the books.**

 **Also, if you guys are wondering what she looks like when she's eating the ice cream with Percy, just go to google images and type: 'Yennefer of Vengerberg'**

 **Btw, how's the new cover image for the story?**


	17. Crazy Ideas

**A/N: Firstly, I'd like to personally thank some of the reviewers from the previous chapters. Especially 'son of hades1', 'Ackner', 'julian018', 'aRTsyisAwesome', 'Kumquat is Taken', 'KingDynalxCore', 'TheYoLOMan', 'bigrig56', 'Perseus314' and a few others. Thanks for reviewing. It means a lot. You guys were patient throughout all these months.**

 **P.S - The above mention doesn't mean the story is coming to an end. Far from it.**

* * *

 _Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _Percy's eyebrows raised. "Date? Thought we did this as friends?"_

 _The goddess looked at him with a playful smirk. "Friends ... with benefits."_

 _Percy's eyebrows raised. 'Wow!', his brain thought._

 _"So?", Hecate asked, her expression showing her lust._

 _Percy's smile turned into a smirk. "Your palace. Your rules."_

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Luke thought he knew the forest pretty well after playing capture the flag here for so many years, but Chiron took him through a way he didn't recognize, through a tunnel of old willow trees, past a little waterfall, and into a glade blanketed with wildflowers.

A bunch of satyrs were sitting in a circle in the grass. Grover stood in the middle, facing three really old, fat satyrs who sat on topiary thrones shaped out of rose bushes. Luke had never seen the three old satyrs before, but he knew they were the Council of Cloven Elders.

Grover seemed to be telling them a story. He twisted the bottom of his T-shirt, shifting nervously on his goat hooves. He hadn't changed much since last winter, because satyrs age half as fast as humans. His acne had flared up. His horns had gotten a little bigger so they just stuck out over his curly hair.

To one side of the the circle, Luke saw Annabeth and Clarisse, who were both comforting a girl who he'd never seen before.

Annabeth had her arm around the girl, who looked small, petite. Her skin was green, and her features were ... well, like an elf in Lord of the Rings. Her ears were slightly pointed and her face was thin and long. Luke realised she was a dryad, a nymph/nature spirit whose life force was bound to one of the trees in the forest. They were usually nice and sweet, but you do not want to get on their bad side.

"It's okay.", Annabeth patted her back. "She'll be fine, Juniper."

Luke frowned, looking at Annabeth. 'Who?', he mouthed to her, indicating towards the dryad.

Annabeth looked up to see Luke. For a moment, her heart fluttered, but she shook it off. She nodded towards Grover. 'His girlfriend.', she mouthed.

"Master Underwood!" the council member on the right shouted, cutting off whatever Grover was trying to say. "Do you seriously expect us to believe this?"

"B-but Silenus," Grover stammered. "It's the truth!"

The Council member, Silenus, turned to his colleagues and muttered something. Chiron cantered up to the front and stood next to them. Chiron was an honorary member of the council, but Luke didn't see how Chiron's voice mattered much. He was an _honorary_ member only.

Silenus tugged his yellow polo shirt over his belly and adjusted himself on his rosebush throne. "Underwood, for six months—six months— we have been hearing these scandalous claims that you heard the wild god Pan speak."

"But I did!"

"Impudence!" said the elder on the left.

"Now, Maron," Chiron said. "Patience."

"Patience, indeed!" Maron said. "I've had it up to my horns with this nonsense. As if the wild god would speak to…to him."

"For six months," Silenus continued, "we have indulged you, Master Underwood. We let you travel. We allowed you to keep your searcher's license. We waited for you to bring proof of your preposterous claim. And what have you found in six months of travel?"

"I just need more time," Grover pleaded.

"Nothing!" the elder in the middle chimed in. "You have found nothing."

"But, Leneus—"

Luke had heard enough. "At least he's looking! What are you guys doing? You're just sitting here and eating grapes while Grover risks his neck to find Pan. At least he has faith, unlike you."

The council turned to Luke, with a dangerous expression on each of their faces. Suddenly, the old, fat satyrs didn't seem so harmless anymore. " _Luke Castellan_.", the satyr sneered. "The Lightning Thief dares to lecture us about faith?"

Annabeth and Grover both stared wide eyed at the standoff. The dryad looked like she was going to cry again.

Chiron leaned in and said something to the satyrs. The satyrs didn't look happy. They muttered and argued among themselves, but Chiron said something else, and Silenus sighed. He nodded reluctantly.

"We will look over your insolence just this once, son of Hermes", he said. "Underwood," Silenus announced, "we will give you one more chance."

Grover brightened. "Thank you!"

"One more week."

"What? But sir! That's impossible!"

"One more week, Underwood. And then, if you cannot prove your claims, it will be time for you to pursue another career. Something to suit your dramatic talents. Puppet theatre, perhaps. Or tap dancing."

"But sir, I—I can't lose my searcher's license. My whole life—"

"This meeting of the council is adjourned," Silenus said. "And now let us enjoy our noonday meal!"

Silenus and the council gave one last look at Luke and left hurriedly.

Grover came trotting towards Luke.

"Hi Luke," Grover was so depressed he didn't even give a handshake. "That went well."

"Those old goats!" Juniper said. "Oh, Grover, they don't know how hard you've tried!"

Luke smiled, then he looked at Annabeth. "So, Annie. Care to introduce me to your new friend?", Luke asked a little too eagerly.

The daughter of Athena looked at him, huffed and stormed away.

Luke frowned. "What'd I do?", he said, feeling confused.

Juniper, the dryad laughed at him. "You boys are always so silly. She is seeing you after months and this is what you ask?"

Luke internally face-palmed. "Shit."

* * *

( _Palace of Hecate, Olympus_ )

Pain. Minute, small pains throughout his body. That's what Percy felt.

When the demigod opened his eyes, all he saw was a blinding white. It took several minutes for his eyes to get used to the morning sunlight. He cursed Apollo.

But when he did open his eyes, Percy found himself somewhere he didn't expect himself to be. He didn't know what he expected. Imprisonment by some monsters? Getting kidnapped by some being?

Actually, it was neither of those. Because he found himself in the grandest bed he'd ever seen. And beside him were clothes which were scattered around in a disorderly pile. It was then that the events of the previous night came rushing back to him. The decision to stay with Hecate for a while, getting drunk, and the last thing he remembered was climbing onto a bed. Her bed.

He shook his head and managed to sit straight, clutching his head in pain. "Ow.", he moaned.

A small laugh echoed through the room. "That's what you get for drinking Dionysus's personal brew."

The demigod lifted his head to see Hecate, who was no longer in her black and white outfit, but was wrapped in a silk white sheet. Her hair was messy and loose, unlike yesterday, and her makeup was missing, probably due to her washing it off.

"That was Dionysus's wine?", Percy said, groaning. "Should have known."

The goddess walked in front of him, and lifted his head towards her.

Percy frowned. "Wha-"

He was interrupted by a pair of lips touching his own. The moment only lasted for ... well, a moment. Hecate then stood straight and walked out of the door. As she left, she said, "I can conjure you a breakfast if you want."

Percy sighed. He went to clutch his head in pain but then realised that the pain was gone. He looked at the goddess, who smiled. "Thanks.", He muttered. A hangover was probably the last thing he needed right now.

"Yeah, a breakfast would be nice.", he said.

Hecate pointed at him and wagged her finger up. "Oh no, not on the bed."

Percy shook his head in resignation and walked out of the room.

With a snap of her fingers, the goddess turned the palace's insides into a beach. Percy found himself sitting at a small wooden table covered by an umbrella. There was even a fake sun which released fake light rays which illuminated the fake beach and the fake water.

But the sand felt so real.

The demigod dug his toes into the sand, feeling it's softness. "Gods, these kinds of beaches are so rare nowadays."

Hecate nodded, sitting in a chair opposite to him. "Indeed. Human pollution has destroyed much of what nature used to be."

Percy sighed. He didn't answer, rather he chose to stretch his legs out, sipping blueberry juice that the goddess had conjured up for him. He frowned, suddenly thinking of something.

"Hex, I was wondering, when you conjure food up, does it only simulate the taste and feel or does it actually contain nutrition?"

The goddess raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but didn't say anything about it. "Well, your body is getting what it needs, if that's what you're wondering."

Percy sighed, twisting his neck. "So,", he started, "I'm pretty sure you saw this coming. What exactly happened last night?"

Hecate's neutral face twisted into a smile. "A lot of things happened, Percy.", she said, making him shiver. "You need to be more specific."

The demigod gulped. "Well, did we uh ... sleep together?"

The goddess's smile became wider. "You say that like it's a bad thing, Percy."

The demigod shook his head repeatedly. "NO! Definitely not."

Hecate smirked. "Good. Because I had a reeaaally good time. I'll be honest, Perseus. You were amazing."

Percy was slightly taken aback. "Wow, most women don't say that directly."

Hecate pouted playfully. "You've been with other women?"

Percy didn't know how to answer that one. "..."

The goddess laughed at his discomfort. "Relax, Casanova. I'm not Hera."

Percy heaved a sigh of relief, and smirked, having thought up of a response. "Well, I don't see why you need to be jealous, Hecate. You're far better than any woman I know."

The goddess put a hand on her heart, like as if she was genuinely touched. "Wow, Percy. Say that to every lady?"

"Alright, alright.", Percy said, seeing his defeat in the conversation. "That's enough. Let's change the subject."

Hecate gave a small smile before relenting. "Anyway, Percy, we never did get to the bottom of why you really came to me."

Percy sighed. For one night he had forgotten completely about the impending Titan threat and the fact that he needed to find Artemis as soon as possible. "Yeah. About Artemis, can you locate her?"

"Fake or real?", Hecate asked.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Which do you think?"

"Real it is."

As Hecate stood up, the beach once again morphed into the palace, like how it was before Percy had entered. She raised her arms to the side, and began chanting. " _Lleolwch. Dod o hyd. Lleolwch. Dod o hyd. Lleolwch. Dod o hyd._ "

Percy frowned. "What language is that?", he asked once she was finished.

Hecate cocked her head to the side, before realising something. "Oh right, you don't know."

"Know what?", Percy asked.

Hecate frowned, contemplating something, before she seemed to reach a conclusion of 'Ah, fuck it, who cares.'. "Well, Percy. Greek wasn't always a language. It only appeared once Olympus was established. Before that, the common tongue was this. Elder Speech, it's called. Now, only titans and other older beings speak this."

Percy nodded. "What about Artemis?"

Hecate sighed. "Percy ..."

"Where is she?!", Percy demanded.

Hecate frowned. "Percy.", she said with a warning tone. After she took a deep breath, she continued. "Well, I haven't been able to locate her, which can only mean one of two things."

"Which are?"

"Either someone has used really strong magic to conceal her aura from me.", Hecate said.

Percy frowned. "Or?"

"Or ... she isn't on the planet."

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades, sat on his bunk in the Hermes cabin, playing with a figurine of Hades in his hand. He was alone, and he felt lonely. And he largely blamed that on his sister for rejoining the Hunters of Artemis

However, for what it was worth, he was excited today, since his sister was supposed to see him today. The Hunters were staying in Camp Half-Blood for some reason. The other Hermes cabin members had said something about Artemis being missing.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

The door opened, making a creaky noise as it did, which was a testament to the ignorance of the gods to the plight of their demigod children. Nico didn't bother looking up. He figured that it was probably just one of the older Hermes kids.

"Hello, Nico."

The thirteen year old was surprised when he heard the voice of Perseus, the man who rescued him. He looked up, excited to see the green eyed demigod who saved him and his sister. He was honestly surprised when he saw not green, but red eyes and silvery white hair instead. Nico didn't think of it much, but he realised that this new demigod, Pieter Jansen, and Perseus looked almost exactly the same, save for some cosmetic differences like the hair and the eyes. Nico felt like Pieter was a creepier version of Perseus.

"Hi.", Nico replied.

Pieter walked to the bunk opposite of where Nico was sitting. The dull thuds of his sneakers against the ground made Nico flinch slightly, for some reason he didn't know. Everything about Pieter freaked him out, and his inner instincts told him to get as far away as possible.

Pieter plopped onto the bunk, making Nico jump a little. Pieter seemed pleased with the reaction, though outwardly, his face showed concern. "You okay, Nico?"

Nico nodded absentmindedly, his only thought being to get away from the area.

Pieter sighed, noticing Nico's discomfort. His eyes turned white for the briefest of seconds, and suddenly, the boy was calm. "Now, Nico, ", Pieter began. "Tell me more about yourself. Even that which is hidden from you. Tell me about your home, tell me about your mother."

* * *

"Jason Grace."

The son of Jupiter shook his head. "Yeah! Sorry!", he said, going to his spot.

What was happening?

Swordsmanship class, being taught by, surprisingly, Pieter Jansen, the son of Athena. Jason had expected Perseus to teach, or even Achilles or his namesake, the original Jason. ( _In this section, the original Jason isn't present, so I will refer to Jason II as Jason._ )

But it wasn't any of them. In fact, he didn't see much of Jason or Achilles. The two of them, plus Perseus always seemed to be either away from Camp or they were holed up in the Poseidon cabin.

Jason Grace held his golden gladius in a poise ready for stabbing.

Pieter smiled, and suddenly his own sword morphed into a gladius.

Jason frowned. "How?"

Pieter didn't reply to that. "You are stabbing an enemy, not piercing water bubbles. Hold your weapon steadily, and focus.", he said, stabbing towards his midsection.

Jason had only microseconds to counter the attack. Most demigods didn't even see the exchange, and Jason's arm rattled with pain at the strength and the speed behind the strike. His eyes widened. How powerful was this guy. No son of Athena should be able to strike so fast and so hard. He simply shouldn't have the physical capabilities to do that.

The rest of the practice session was Jason getting his ass handed. In the middle of the fight, he wondered what it would be like to fight this guy for real. He shuddered at the thought. He would be slaughtered within seconds and he knew it.

The rest of the class watched in anticipation. Unbeknownst to Jason, he had actually lasted much longer against Pieter than anyone else in the class, and the rest of the class was cheering for him.

But everyone eventually makes mistakes. His was being cocky. He tried a fancy manoeuvre and had to drop his sword instead, when Pieter's gladius came glaringly close to his wrist. There was no room to wriggle out and it might have pierced his artery if he hadn't dropped the sword.

When Jason was defeated, he realised that he was sweating badly. His knees were wobbly and his arms felt numb. Also, the class was nowhere to be seen. How long was he fighting?

* * *

The next morning there was a lot of excitement at breakfast.

Around three in the morning, an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp. The magical boundaries had kept the monster out, but it prowled the hills, looking for weak spots in the defenses, and it didn't seem anxious to go away until Lee Fletcher from Apollo's cabin led a couple of his siblings in pursuit. After a few dozen arrows lodged in the chinks of the drakon's armor, it got the message and withdrew.

"It's still out there," Lee warned the demigods during the announcements. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. It's eyes—" he shuddered.

"You did well, Lee," Chiron patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Yes," Pieter said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."

The campers murmured among themselves.

Luke frowned. Why was Pieter sitting at the head table? Was it because he was already very old. But then he remembered Percy always sitting at the Poseidon table and sleeping in the Poseidon cabin. Maybe this guy wanted privacy?

"This is a good reason for new war games," Pieter continued, with an evil glint in his eyes which unnerved the campers. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"Yes…" Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." He raised his goblet. "To the gods."

Everyone raised their glasses and repeated the blessing.

Annabeth slid next to Luke at the Hermes table.

She knew as well as he did that campers weren't allowed to switch tables. Half-bloods had to sit with their cabins. Mr. D wasn't here. Chiron had already left the pavilion. Pieter looked over and raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything.

"Look," Annabeth said, "Grover is in trouble. There's only one way we can figure to help him. It's the Labyrinth. That's what Clarisse and I have been investigating."

Luke shifted his weight, trying to think clearly. "You mean the one which spans the entire world? And also is rumoured to have doorways to other worlds?"

"Exactly," Annabeth said.

"Annabeth.", Luke started. "I want to help Grover as much as you do, but the Labyrinth is no joke. You could not only get lost forever, but there is no telling what you'll meet down there."

"I know, but we have to try.", Annabeth insisted.

"Try what?", a voice pipped in.

Half the table turned around to see Percy, standing there wearing his signature black outfit. He frowned at a Roman, a son of Mercury who sat beside Luke. "Scoot.", he said.

With a bit of difficulty, accounting for the overcrowding of the Hermes table, Percy managed to fit in between Luke and the Roman. "AH!", he said, shaking his hands in anticipation as he grabbed a bowl of Fruit Loops. "So,", he said, with a spoon in his mouth. "What's this about the Labyrinth?"

Annabeth and Luke looked at each other, before the daughter of Athena glared at him. "How did you even hear us?! You were so far away!", she demanded.

Percy laughed a little. "Son of Poseidon. Superior senses than yours, remember?"

"Whatever.", Annabeth huffed.

Luke sighed. "So, you know how the wild god Pan is missing, right?"

"Yeah.", Percy said. "I do. Didn't he fade, though?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No. Grover says he felt Pan's presence at Westover Hall."

Percy frowned. "Westover? Are you sure he didn't feel Artemis's presence? She is the goddess of forests after all."

"No.", Luke said. "This was after Artemis left. He said it was different."

"Strange.", Percy said. "I thought I was delirious at the time. I could've sworn someone was watching us. It very well may have been Pan."

"Yeah.", Annabeth said. "Now Grover has a week to find him, otherwise he loses his searcher's license. So can you come with us?"

"Where?", Percy asked.

"The Labyrinth. We're hoping you could come with us to search-"

"No."

Luke frowned, his anger rising a little. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"You heard me.", Percy said. "The Labyrinth is, in some ways, more dangerous than even Tartarus itself. There is no guarantee you can traverse through it without turning insane, let alone have the capabilities to navigate it."

"It doesn't matter. We have to help Grover.", Annabeth insisted.

Percy sighed. "Look, Annabeth. I appreciate your sincerity towards your friends. I do. But believe me, you don't know what you're talking about. Even a god wouldn't go there unless they really had to. It's just too dangerous."

"You're just too scared. Will you help us or not?!", Luke demanded, his voice getting a little louder.

Percy's eyes narrowed and glowed a little brighter as his temper flared for a split second before the demigod squashed the anger down. "Calm down, Castellan. Watch that tone of yours. You're not the only one with a loud voice."

It was at times like these that Luke was reminded that he only knew Percy for a few weeks at best. You don't talk like that to a person whom you've only known for a while.

"Now,", Percy continued. "If we really really need to go through the Labyrinth, I recommend we get someone who is very well versed in magic. Wouldn't want to fall into an alternate dimension full of Nazis, now would we?"

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, there are a couple of children of the goddess of magic."

Percy shook his head. "No. That can't happen. We'll need someone who knows it. Someone who really knows it."

"Like who?", Annabeth asked.

Percy seemed to contemplate for a while. "I've got someone in mind ... but we'll see. But firstly, do you even know where an entrance is?"

Annabeth frowned. "No? Isn't there only one entrance?"

Percy shook his head. "Entrances to the Labyrinth. They are all around the world. All around the universe, actually.", Percy muttered the last part to himself.

"Alright, do you know any?", Luke asked.

Percy sighed. "Sadly, no. They're extremely hard to find, and even if we do, I've no notion of what it might look like."

Before Luke or Annabeth could say anything, the weirdest thing happened. A cloud like shape appeared right on top of the Hermes table, and a booming voice spoke. " **Where do you want your order to be delivered?** "

The whole camp, every demigod turned to the Hermes table. Percy cleared his throat, a little surprised and embarrassed. He didn't always mind attention, but that didn't mean he liked it. "To the Poseidon cabin, please.", he said a little quickly.

Luckily, demigods didn't tend to focus on one thing. ADHD tended to do that. Pretty soon, nobody remembered a cloud speaking at breakfast.

Luke frowned in confusion. "What was that?", he asked Percy.

Percy sighed. "It's a ... well, why don't you guys come to my cabin. I'll show you."

When Luke and Annabeth got to the Poseidon cabin after breakfast, they understood why Percy didn't tell them in front of everyone. The order that had come in for Percy, was a weapons order.

Luke's eyes widened as he looked at the assortment of weapons, and two black cases. "Holy shit!", he exclaimed.

Annabeth too, was wide-eyed. She picked up a throwing star from the sheath of a belt, only to recoil in shock. "What is this metal? It hurts!"

Percy chuckled. "That's sixty percent Stygian Iron. It reacts badly to living beings, including gods."

"Damn.", Luke muttered. He noticed a rectangular case sitting on top of Percy's bunk. The case had a matte black finish and was almost two metres long. "What is this?", Luke asked.

Percy smiled. "Alright, I'll let you open it. Go ahead."

Luke shrugged. He tapped a button on the side of the case, causing the lid to automatically pop open, revealing something he didn't expect.

"WHOA!", Luke exclaimed, along with Annabeth, seeing not a sword or even an axe, but a sniper rifle. It looked like a cross between the standard M82 used by the military and those old Magnum snipers, but this one was completely black.

Luke went to pick the gun up, but a shake of the head from Percy made him step back. "You're a good guy, Luke, but this might just be one of the deadliest long range weapons ever created. This was made specifically by Hephaestus. One of a kind. Fires up to as far as the eye can see. My eye, which means that's easily dozens of kilometres."

Annabeth went into nerd mode, ignoring Percy and grabbing the weapon.

"Hey!", Luke exclaimed. "How come you let her hold it?!"

"She's a child of Athena. She knows what she's doing."

"What?!", Luke sputtered. "T-That's stereotyping! At least let us see it in action."

"Yeah!", Annabeth chimed in.

Percy chuckled, taking the gun back from the demigoddess. "Alright. Alright. We'll take it to the archery range, and I'll do one shot. But that's it."

Both Luke and Annabeth acted as if they'd been given golden apples to eat. The pair nodded vigorously.

"Fine.", Percy relented. "Till I assemble it, go and set up a target at the archery range. Make sure it's inclined at least a hundred and fifteen degrees to the ground. We wouldn't want the bullet fragments ricocheting back to us. And make sure the area is clear."

* * *

When Percy said clear the area, he didn't know they would take it so literally. Every single camper, including Romans, were informed. And as his luck had it, they all wanted to see it. He didn't blame them. All of them still used bows.

Well, Percy only used guns and throwing stars since he absolutely sucked at archery. He wondered if Chiron was still mad at him for shooting him in his backside all those centuries ago.

The target was set up at the archery range and Percy was impressed at the target Annabeth came up with. It took her only half an hour, but she managed to stuff in Celestial Bronze plates in the dummy. Like he had told her, he could see that the target was leaning back slightly.

They were at the very edge of the camp, on the beach.

Everyone was watching in anticipation. He didn't bother setting up a stand on the ground and resting on the stomach. He picked up the rifle and held it the way you'd hold a semi-automatic rifle.

Without bothering to even look through the scope, Percy pulled the trigger.

A devastating BANG! was heard throughout the camp. Percy felt the whole gun heat up, and he could've sworn that the barrel turned red hot for a second.

When the demigods excitedly went to the target, they were glad that they all weren't the target.

The target wasn't even a target anymore. The Celestial Bronze plates were liquefied and they had hardened again in the floor of the archery range. The straw dummy was in several pieces and when they looked behind the dummy, they could see a hole in the wall of the Apollo cabin. Inside the Apollo cabin, the bullet lay still, red hot.

Luke's eyes widened, seeing the devastation. "Damn! Who's this for?!"

Percy's eyes narrowed. "Darkstorm."

.

.

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.

.

.

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* * *

 **A/N: Not much action here, I know, but I felt like I need to write some chapters to establish some characters. Purely to answer questions like 'WTF is he/she doing now? Also, I remembered that I had nearly forgotten about the Romans moving into Camp Half-Blood. Sorry if I ignored the Roman demigods.'**

 **Once again, please review.**


	18. Portal In The Bushes

_Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _The target wasn't even a target anymore. The Celestial Bronze plates were liquefied and they had hardened again in the floor of the archery range. The straw dummy was in several pieces and when they looked behind the dummy, they could see a hole in the wall of the Apollo cabin. Inside the Apollo cabin, the bullet lay still, red hot._

 _Luke's eyes widened, seeing the devastation. "Damn! Who's this for?!"_

 _Percy's eyes narrowed. "Darkstorm._ "

* * *

CLICK!

The sound reverberated throughout the empty Poseidon cabin as Percy hit the 'ENTER' key of his laptop. The demigod was seated on a roller chair, with his laptop placed on a rather plain study table. Two devices were plugged into his ears. Wireless earphones.

A multitude of search results had appeared on the screen of the laptop, and the demigod selected the first one. The text that appeared was not English, but Ancient Greek.

He took a deep breath and held down the space bar and watched the text scroll up and new text appear onto the screen. With his free hand, he grabbed a pen, and began to write in a frankly ugly handwriting. Though that could be because he was writing at speeds impossible to be achieved by a human. Papers would be torn into pieces if you wrote on them sixty words a second, so Percy wrote his notes on the table itself.

In front of him, on the wall, there were several drawings and photos stuck, and were all connected by threads. All were related to Darkstorm or the titans. On the top, Percy had drawn a perfect replica of an old man. Two ravens were perched on his shoulders, and the old man was even missing an eye. This was the man who told Percy of Artemis's location. Percy was suspicious of him most. 'What if he was Darkstorm?', Percy thought.

A female voice pipped in. "YAWN! So BO-ORING!"

Percy didn't bother to look or listen or answer back. He was too focused at the moment, plus the earphones weren't actually earphones. They were noise cancellation device which also enhanced focus. His ADHD temporarily vanished, and his focus was on the screen alone.

A young black haired woman rose from Percy's bunk. She was barely clothed, if you could call it that. Black lingerie was the only thing she wore, and her hair was messed up, like as if she had just woken up. She lazily strolled to Percy, putting her arms around his neck from behind and resting her chin on the top of his head. Percy continued staring at the screen and writing.

Right about now, almost every character who could break the fourth dimension was shocked. That was an outrageous amount of self control. Now that he was no longer in Hecate's palace, he wasn't a lovesick dog.

The goddess frowned as she managed to catch some words as they flew by the screen. "Really Percy? Why are you reading up about 'The Mechanics of Divine Energy' by Pallas Athena?"

Percy didn't reply. This was far too important for him right now. More important than anything else. It was as if his ADHD had temporarily vanished. The entirety of his focus was devoted to one thing and one thing only. To read that book. Traditional methods and direct confrontations did not work on Darkstorm. Percy knew he needed to find other ways.

"Fine!", Hecate huffed. "Be boring.". She detached herself from him and sat on the bunk.

Percy remembered what his father had told him. 'None had his intelligence ... Do not mistake his arrogance for ignorance.'. This was the first threat Olympus could not take head on. Even the gods, powerful as they are, cannot charge into Orthrys and destroy Darkstorm. They needed two things. Strategy, and patience. They had the first, but do they have the latter?

Suddenly, Percy stopped writing. The words stopped moving. Percy had reached the bottom of the page. He cracked his neck bones and shook his right hand, which felt a little sore after writing with such speed.

"Yes, Hex?", he asked, rolling his chair towards her. He had remembered her arms around his neck, saying something. He hadn't quite heard her. "You were saying something?"

The goddess rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I'm not any other goddess. They would have blasted you for ignoring them."

Percy's face turned apologetic. "Sorry. I was plugged in.", he motioned to his earphones, which were now placed on the table. It was then that he noticed what the goddess was wearing. He smirked. "My my. Are we in a naughty mood?"

Hecate looked towards the door. "It depends. Will we be interrupted?"

Percy glanced at the door. "Nah.". He unbuttoned his shirt and crawled onto the bed, going on top of the goddess. Said goddess giggled, before flipping positions, so that she was on top, and their lips met.

* * *

"No," Annabeth said as Juniper started crying. "I'm sure that's not it."

"He had a crush on a blueberry bush once," Juniper said miserably.

"Juniper," Annabeth said, "Grover would never even look at another tree. He's just stressed out about his searcher's license."

"He can't go underground!" she protested. "You can't let him."

Annabeth looked uncomfortable. "It might be the only way to help him; if we just knew where to start."

"Over there," Annabeth whispered suddenly to Luke, as if she'd heard something.

"No, wait," Luke said. "Behind us."

Scuttling noises seemed to be coming from several different directions. Luke and Annabeth were circling the boulders, their swords drawn. But nothing appeared. Luke heaved a sigh of relief and began to put his sword back into it's sheath when Juniper's face turned greener. "HIDE!", she yelped and disappeared, leaving nothing but green smoke and a scent of ... juniper, of course.

Annabeth and Luke turned. Coming out of the woods was a glistening amber insect, ten feet long, with jagged pincers, an armoured tail, and a stinger as long as a metre. A scorpion. Tied to its back was a red silk package.

What were they doing? Remember the boxes which were in the Arena? Pieter Jansen's idea was to have the demigods in groups of two and hunt the creatures as practice. They were nasty. Each was capable of killing several demigods at once. One of the oldest and deadliest monsters.

"One of us gets behind it," Annabeth said, as the thing clattered toward them. "Cuts off its tail while the other distracts it in front."

"I'll take point," Luke said. "You've got the invisibility hat."

The plan went to shit. Without waiting, the scorpion's tail stabbed directly towards Annabeth. Only Luke's speed kept them alive. The son of Hermes cried out in pain as the deadly stinger left a scratch on his abdomen.

"LUKE!", Annabeth exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

Luke groaned, and parried away another attack. 'I get hit by it's tail, a poisonous one, and she asks if I'm okay.', Luke thought.

Annabeth put on her invisibility cap and vanished. Naturally. The only indication of her presence in the area was when the monster shrieked as a bronze dagger was embedded into it's soft underbelly.

Annabeth rolled out from under it before it could sit on her for revenge. Luke took the opportunity. He swung his sword as fast and as hard as he could, nearly decapitating it. Or so he thought. At the last moment, the monster jumped back. But his sword still hit it, drawing copious amounts of black coloured blood from it's face.

Luke smirked, and he stepped back to take another swing, when suddenly he felt a force tug at him from behind. Before he could do anything, he vanished, his last words being "WHOOOAAAA!"

Annabeth's eyes widened. "LUKE!", she screamed. She ran to the spot where he had last stood, and she too got sucked into nothingness.

The semi-intelligent scorpion had a dumb expression on it's face. Something along the lines of 'NOOOO! MY FOOD!'. It scuttled towards the demigod's last location, before it too got sucked into nothingness.

* * *

One moment, Luke could see the scorpion, the afternoon sky and the trees, and then the world shut like the lens of a camera, and he was in complete darkness. His breathing echoed against stone. It was wet and cold. He was sitting on a bumpy floor that seemed to be made of bricks.

Luke lifted his sword. The faint glow of the blade was just enough to illuminate Annabeth's frightened face and the mossy stone walls on either side of them. "Annabeth?", he said, sounding surprised.

"Wh-where are we?" Annabeth said.

"Safe from the scorpions, anyway," Luke tried to sound calm, but he was shitting himself internally. 'What the fuck happened?!', Luke thought.

He lifted his sword again for light. "It's a long room," he muttered.

Annabeth gripped his arm. "It's not a room. It's a corridor."

Luke started forward, but Annabeth stopped him. "Don't take another step," she warned. "We need to find the exit.". She sounded really scared.

"It's okay," I promised. "It's right—". He looked behind. The floor and walls were solid stone. The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions.

Annabeth's hand slipped into his. Luke always wanted to hold Annabeth like that, and not just because of these circumstances, but here in the dark he was glad to know where she was. It was about the only thing he was sure of.

"Two steps back," she advised.

They stepped backward together like they were in a minefield.

Luke's eyes suddenly widened. "Annabeth? Do you think we're in the ..."

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah ... I'm pretty sure. It's exactly like the stories."

'Wow.', Luke thought. He never thought that his prayers would be answered so literally. He had been wishing to find an entrance into the Labyrinth to help Grover find the god Pan. And now, the Labyrinth sucked him in.

Just as Luke thought this was the Labyrinth, the tunnel's walls and ceilings momentarily flashed, revealing something else. For a moment, they saw not the Labyrinth, but brown wood. Annabeth and Luke both frowned in confusion as the walls became curved and so did the floor and ceiling. For a moment, both of them felt lighter.

Luke tried to imagine where they were. The best he could come up with was that they were inside a huge hollow tree.

Just then, Luke saw the air in front of him ripple. He grabbed Annabeth and both of them jumped back as the same scorpion appeared in front of them.

Luke held his blade out, pointed at the scorpion. "Not good.", he muttered to Annabeth.

The scorpion itched towards them, closer and closer. Luke knew he could've defeated it, but not here. Not in this narrow space. The walls were so close to each other that he could feel Annabeth's shoulder pressing against his own.

"Damn it.", Luke muttered.

Annabeth had her own bronze blade out, and she seemed to be contemplating the best way to handle their current predicament. Luke figured that her silence meant that she didn't know what to do.

Just when the scorpion almost skewered them both, a bright blue light filled the inner part of the tunnel/tree. The scorpion noticed it too, but it was too late.

SHINK!

The sound of a Stygian Iron blade which was buried hilt deep into the monster's brain.

Percy stood there with an irritated face, as if he'd been woken up rudely. "You two better have a damn good reason for going in here alone."

* * *

( _Two Hours Earlier_ )

Things were getting heated in the Poseidon cabin.

Percy momentarily lifted himself up to remove his t-shirt, and then continued to make out with the goddess. Hecate, who was now below him, moaned in pleasure as the demigod kissed her neck.

Sadly, all of that was interrupted when the door of the Poseidon cabin was kicked open by none other than Jason Grace.

The poor son of Jupiter didn't even have time to say 'Shit', when Hecate's hand stopped groping Percy and glowed blue. She raised it to Jason and a large blast of blue electricity shot from her hand and struck him in the chest. Though electricity did not usually harm Jason, somehow this bolt sent him hurtling into the air, landing him right next to Hestia's hearth.

"Ow.", Jason muttered.

He looked to the side to see Hestia, tending to her hearth like always. She looked like she was eight years old, and was holding a poker, repeatedly pushing around coals with it. She had a look on her face which made him feel dumb. "Always knock before you enter.", Hestia said.

When he stood up, Percy was already there, wearing only his pants. Before Jason could explain why he came, Percy's hand shot straight to his neck. The son of Poseidon hoisted him up until he reached his eye level.

"Grace.", he said menacingly. "You better have a damn good reason for interrupting me."

"Ahem."

Percy looked back to see Hecate, who now was fully dressed in her black and white outfit. He dropped Jason to the ground the way you drop a football before play.

Jason momentarily frowned, confused at who this woman was. But he didn't think much of it. He had more important matters at hand.

Percy was staring at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

"Right.", Jason started. "So, we were having the new exercise which Pieter had introduced, and it's over. But we can't find Luke or Annabeth."

Percy frowned, forgetting all about Jason's intrusion. "Missing? Are you sure they aren't at the Fist, shoving their tongues into each other?"

Jason wanted to point out that Percy had been doing the same, but he didn't want to piss off either Percy or the woman beside him. Especially the woman. He could feel the sting of the electricity on his chest. It was an odd and foreign feeling for Jason. He had never been hurt by electricity before. As a matter of fact, it usually energized him.

"No. We checked there.", Jason said.

Percy sighed. "Those idiots. I swear ... come on, we'll look for them.". Percy looked at the Hecate apologetically. "So sorry Hex."

The woman, contrary to what Jason thought, wasn't all that mad. She looked at Percy and shook her head. "It's alright, Percy. Finding the two demigods is more important right now."

Percy's eyes narrowed. "Why? Don't get me wrong, I like those two, but why are _you_ interested in them?"

Hecate mockingly put her hand under her chin. "Oh, let me think. Maybe because Lucas Castellan is the only son of Hermes ever to inherit his father's speed, or wait, maybe because there might be an entrance into the FUCKING LABYRINTH IN THIS FUCKING CAMP!", she yelled the last part right into Percy's face.

Jason was glad he wasn't the one being yelled at.

Percy went white as freshly produced factory grade paper. "There's a what?", he said, his voice low.

Hecate sighed. "Maybe. I think so."

"Grace.", Percy said. "Get Chiron and Pieter and tell them to start looking for traces of foreign, inter-dimensional energy. Chiron will understand what to do. Meanwhile, we'll do the same."

Jason frowned, a little confused, but he nodded nonetheless. "And us? What do we do?", he asked.

Percy stared at the forest, a dreadful feeling growing in his stomach. "You, and every other half blood will stay out of the forest. Stay in the dining hall or your cabins."

"But,", Jason started.

"No buts. Do it.", Percy warned. "There's no telling who might get sucked in next."

Jason frowned. "Alright. I'll tell everyone to stay out of the forest, but you better explain everything later man."

Percy walked back to his cabin and came out wearing a t-shirt and holding the gauntlet piece of his armour. Blue light emanated from the palm of the glove and shone on the ground. Maelstrom was attached to his hip.

It was almost two hours later when they finally found the entrance to the Labyrinth. Hecate had to hold Percy's shoulder to make sure he didn't fall inside.

Suddenly, Hecate smiled. "Found them."

Percy sighed in relief. "Alright. Bring them out then."

Suddenly Hecate frowned. "Wait, there's something else with them. A scorpion, I think ... I can't bring them out yet, Percy. The scorpion is too close. You'll have to go and kill it. Then, I'll bring you all out."

Percy frowned. "Fine.". He unsheathed Maelstrom and readied himself.

Hecate loosened her grip on Percy and the demigod went straight into nothing. Well, into the Labyrinth. A ripple in the air was the only indication of the entrance to the Labyrinth.

Chiron stood beside the goddess. "How long has this been here?"

Hecate sighed. "I don't know. Since Daedalus built it, maybe?"

Pieter Jansen stood behind them, but didn't seem to be affected by the pull of the portal to the Labyrinth. He smiled, as if he'd been looking for something for a long time and he finally found it.

He started to walk away from the scene, taking care not to alert either Chiron or the goddess.

There was a small sound, a gust of wind, and Darkstorm vanished from the scene. There was only one more thing to do. Wait for the inevitable prophecy that would no doubt be told either today or tomorrow. Then, he'd have to be in it.

Both Chiron and Hecate suddenly turned back as the gust of wind hit their backs. "What was that?", Hecate asked.

"No idea.", Chiron said. "Is it long enough? Can you bring them out now?"

Hecate frowned, concentrating. Her magic pierced through the portal and allowed her to see what was happening. She smiled when she saw Percy stab the scorpion. The goddess raised her hands, which were glowing blue with energy. She balled them into fists and pulled them back.

For a moment, nothing happened, but then three demigods came tumbling out of the portal.

Chiron stood over Luke and Annabeth and stared at them disapprovingly. "We have been looking for you for two hours."

Luke and Annabeth frowned. "What? But it's only been a few minutes!"

It was Percy's turn to be confused. "What?!"

* * *

"Come again. Just repeat all of that!", Annabeth demanded. "You _knew_ how to find an entrance! And you _knew_ how it would be! But you said you didn't!"

Percy sighed, rubbing his head. "This shit of you two almost getting lost for eternity is the main fucking reason I tried to dissuade you two. Yes, I lied about not knowing how to find an entrance, but believe me, if you had been there for longer, or gods forbid, if you guys decided to start exploring the place, then we might have _never_ found you. You need to understand how dangerous it is."

Luke frowned. "Okay, but we've been to the Underworld, and now that we know how this is, we can-"

"No, Luke. You don't get it. This isn't the Underworld at all. The Labyrinth is a living force, with it's own consciousness. If it wants to fuck with you, then it will fuck with you. Hecate here is the goddess of magic, which makes her one of the very few people who could pull you out. And even then, that's only because you guys stayed right where you were."

At the end of the table, Pieter Jansen raised an eyebrow. "Interesting.", he muttered. Hecate could pull people out of the Labyrinth? Very interesting indeed. A very useful set of skills was possessed by her.

The door of the meeting room of the Big House burst open. Two girls walked in, Thalia Grace and Bianca di Angelo.

"Thals!", Annabeth exclaimed.

The girl smiled and gave her best friend a hug. She roughly slapped Luke on the back before plopping down on a seat next to Annabeth.

Percy stared at the second girl. Bianca had changed. Not by much, but it was very clear. Her hair was longer, and the freckles on her face were back. Her gait and posture wasn't fully straight, and the silvery-aura which should have been around her was almost fully dimmed.

"Sit down.", Pieter said, looking at Bianca in the eye. For a moment, there was tension in the room. The demigoddess stared at the white haired man, trying to remember where she saw him, or heard him. Those red eyes ... just like Darkstorm.

She had a nagging suspicion almost immediately, and she was sure when she looked at him. His eyes stared into hers, daring her to accuse him. She knew he was taunting her to say it. But how could she? What proof did she have? She would no doubt be told that she was imagining things due to her PTSD or that she was imagining things.

Darkstorm smiled when she didn't open her mouth and instead chose to quietly sit beside Thalia.

Percy visibly frowned. The girl he had rescued was very talkative, and simply couldn't shut her mouth. And now, she was silent. What the hell happened to her on Orthrys?

Before any of them could begin, another person entered the room. It was Nico, Bianca's sister.

This time, Bianca's demeanour did change. She smiled widely and hugged her brother tight, tiny tears escaping from her eyes. Nico gasped. "Bi! Let go! You'll crush me!"

The huntress, or former one, stared at her brother happily, and punched him on the shoulder.

Nico noticed her tears. "What's wrong, Bi?"

Bianca suddenly realised she was crying a little. She quickly wiped them off. "Oh it's nothing. I'm just so happy to see you. It's been so long."

"Ahem."

The pair turned to look at Percy, who was slightly amused. "As much as it's nice to see your sister her, Nico, I'm afraid you need to wait outside. This isn't something you need to hear."

Nico frowned. "Alright. But I'm taking Bianca."

"Sure.", Pieter said. "Just be careful. Never know what's out there."

Bianca joined her brother to leave, but she turned one last time and stared at Pieter's eyes for a brief second. Her expression was something along the lines of, 'Just wait, I'll expose you.'

The demigoddess nearly gasped when she heard his voice in her head. ' **Nice try. If you want, you can tell them now. But you won't. Because you love your brother dearly. Don't you? Unless you wish me to smite Nico into oblivion, you will not act against me. You will do exactly as I say, and if you even hint anything to anyone, I'll send you to Ira, and he can fuck you some more.** '

Bianca gulped, and walked out of the room.

Later that night, Bianca was in the Big House. She had borrowed Annabeth's invisibility cap, under the pretext of using it for the war games which was due the day after capture the flag.

She was actually using it to spy on Darkstorm. When she walked into the Big House, she wanted to yell, but she couldn't. Not when Nico's life was on the line. The only thing left for her to do was to gather information about him, and possibly try to kill him.

"ig three demigods are inside the camp. Yes. Ready the riders. Tonight, we are going on a hunt."

She gasped when she heard Darkstorm's voice. He was speaking through what looked like a small rectangle. She realised it was a mobile. She squinted, but didn't see any company logo on it. Maybe his fingers covered it?

She could barely hear a voice through it. Pieter's/Darkstorm's room must've had some thick walls. But she did hear a reply. ' _They are ever ready._ '

"Good."

Bianca pressed her ear to the door, hoping to gain more knowledge of his plans. She heard nothing else.

Sighing, she turned around only to come face to face with Darkstorm. She almost yelped, but he was faster. His hand shot up to cover her mouth and pushed her against the wall. "Ah, the girl from another time. The living proof that time travel is possible. Or at least, the dilation of time."

"Mmmff!", was the only thing she could get out of her mouth.

Darkstorm smiled at her, making her look away in disgust.

"I wonder,", he started, "have you even told Nico who his father is? I'm sure he must be terribly curious and frustrated, staying in this forsaken place, not knowing where he came from."

"Mmmfff! Mmfff!"

Darkstorm's smile spread wider. "Tell me, time traveller, didn't I warn you not to against me? And yet, I find you invading my privacy."

It was a split second decision. She kneed him in the balls. It was the first time she actually saw him in pain. Darkstorm took a few steps back, and pain flared up in his nether regions, but then he recovered. He looked up at her, his eyes started to glow brighter. A wisp of steam escaped his eyes.

Bianca suddenly gripped her shoulder. It hurt. Her shoulder was burning.

She almost screamed, but then the world around her changed. They were no longer in the Big House. They were in a desert, almost. A desert of death maybe. There were bones, and whole skeletons even, strewn across. Not human bones. Animal bones. Big ones.

"You like this place?"

For a moment, Bianca's confusion overtook her anger. "What is this place?!"

"World, you mean.", Darkstorm said.

She looked at him in horror. "What?!"

He merely motioned her to look up. The sight was terrifying. There was the sun. But it wasn't earth's sun. This one was too close, and it was red, a deep shade of red, like Darkstorm's eyes.

"This is a world which was once full of life. Advanced life. More so than you humans. When I first found it, it was like this, and guess how it became like this.". It was a rhetorical. She didn't answer it, because she didn't know. "Zeus, and his siblings did this. Just because this planet's power had started to threaten them.". Darkstorm walked among the carcasses, kicking a stray bone aside. "We are in a desert on the planet which once was Krypton."

"WHAT?!"

"No. Not like the comic book. There's no secret baby on earth who will grow up and wear a skin tight blue suit. That fictional planet just happens to have the same name. Similarities between this planet's inhabitants and that comic book is uncanny. Maybe one of those gods felt guilty, spilt everything to some mortal. I don't know. Whatever the case, the Kryptonians are no more. And it's your father's doing."

"NO! Hades would never do that!"

Darkstorm chuckled. "You're in denial, naturally. But that's alright. I don't expect you to suddenly drop it and join me. I brought you here because I had to warn you. If you do not stand down and keep your mouth shut, then this is what Camp Half-Blood will look like when I'm done with it."

Bianca stepped forward, nearly tripping over a rock. "I won't let you!"

"How cute. But I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice. Good bye, Bianca di Angelo, sleep well, demigod dreams can be nasty."

When Bianca woke up, she wasn't on Krypton anymore. Instead, she was back in the Artemis cabin, and when she desperately looked around, all she saw were her sisters in arms, sleeping peacefully.

She fell back on her pillow. "What the hell?"

A million thoughts raced through her head. Krypton, the gods had a hand in what had happened to it. They destroyed it. If ... if the gods destroyed a whole civilization, how are they any better than the titans? What gives them the right to be worshipped?

.

.

.

.

.

.

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* * *

 **A/N: Right, well I'm sure a lot of you have many questions about the ending of this chapter. I'll clear it up here and now.**

 **Firstly, all Kryptonians are dead. For sure. Superman does not exist here. Darkstorm is not a Kryptonian, he only found the planet accidentally. Neither is Percy for that matter, his special powers is because of something else which I will reveal later.**

 **Hecate didn't hit Jason with actual lightning. It's more of a magical energy which looks like lightning, which is why it hurt him. Plain and simple.**

 **I decided to massively change how the Labyrinth is and how it came to be, so please bear with me.**

 **Man with the ravens ... who is he? ... *wink* *wink***


	19. Eight Shall Delve Into An Endless Maze

**A/N: YAY! This is officially the most chapters I have written for a story. My other story has only 18 (that story is discontinued. Permanently).**

 **As always, please comment, like and subscribe ... er, I mean review, favourite and follow. Sorry, wrong website.**

 **If you have any queries or requests, please PM me, or if you're a guest user, then just write it in a review.**

 **Anyway, read on.**

* * *

 _Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _When Bianca woke up, she wasn't on Krypton anymore. Instead, she was back in the Artemis cabin, and when she desperately looked around, all she saw were her sisters in arms, sleeping peacefully._

 _She fell back on her pillow. "What the hell?"_

 _A million thoughts raced through her head. Krypton, the gods had a hand in what had happened to it. They destroyed it. If ... if the gods destroyed a whole civilization, how are they any better than the titans? What gives them the right to be worshipped?_

* * *

( _Moscow, Russia_ )

Most large cities often had an engaging night life. Moscow wasn't any different. But not today.

A man in his late forties hid behind the door of his house and put a hand on his wife's mouth, to keep her from crying out. He didn't want the wraiths to find them.

A shrill sound passed through the air as a horde of twenty green horsemen galloped across the street. The man closed his eyes, shivering.

The horsemen were not human. They were skeletons, and their armour was rusty and in tatters. They were faint, and didn't seem to collide with any vehicles. In fact, they passed right through them, as if they were a mirage.

Even the horses were green and skeletal, emanating a vibrant light from their hollow eye sockets.

The couple shivered as the horsemen passed through. It was cold. too cold, even if it was winter. Frost formed on the windows and the air was covered in a hazy mist of cold. The riders stopped for a moment, staring right at them.

The man's heart stopped, but the riders did not enter. They carried on, galloping away.

The couple sighed and dropped down, leaning against the wall. The man went to wipe the sweat off of his forehead, but it was stuck. Even his sweat was frozen.

On the streets however, it was a different story. As the wraiths passed through, the surrounding area grew colder and colder. A silent blizzard swept through the city, as if it weren't July, but the heart of winter.

As the wraiths stopped in front of a particular house, they slowly began to solidify. Their armour was no longer rusty, and neither were they a transparent green. This was the Dearg Ruadhri.

Leading foremost was the King. Darkstorm. His black armour was still frosty, but it slowly evaporated away, leaving him a terrifying mixture of black and gold.

He kicked down the door and entered. His riders followed. Behind him were Ira and Nox, his lieutenants. His left and right hands. And behind them was more than a dozen Red Riders.

"AAAAHH!", a woman screamed, hiding her son behind her. The son's father had armed himself with a shotgun.

"DON'T MOVE, or I will FIRE!"

Darkstorm didn't speak. He merely continued forward. The man fired. The sound of the shotgun shells exploding was very loud, but not as loud as what happened afterwards.

The shot didn't do anything. It did not leave even a scratch on Darkstorm's armour, nor did it even momentarily stagger him. He looked down on the dust left by the shotgun on his chest.

Darkstorm stared at the parents. "Cymerwch y ddau", he ordered. [Take them both]

Ira merely grunted and stepped forward. His armour was vastly similar to the other Red Riders with a few key differences. His helmet wasn't a skull, but it covered his entire face, leaving only a few holes for him to see through. Ira did not use a sword either. In one hand was a magnificent shield, which was the same material as his armour and was half his size, and in the other hand he held a massive mace, which was bigger than most men.

The Red Riders grabbed the parents, and dragged them out of the house, ignoring the pleas and ignoring the cries of the young child.

Ira looked at Darkstorm, motioning to the child.

"Llofruddiwch ef. Dim ond dhoine." [Kill it. It's a worthless human]

As Darkstorm left the house, a sickening crunch could be heard as Ira's massive mace split the young boy's skull into several pieces. Although it did not vaporise him like it should have. That child was not just a dhoine. He was half god also.

A blue portal opened in front of Darkstorm. But it wasn't like the one Percy would open using his gauntlet's technology. This was different. This was bigger, and it looked like a spiralling and churning mixture of blue and black.

The Riders entered, dragging the dead demigod's parents inside. The parents no longer fought against them. What did they have to lose now? Their son was dead. They were killed by green wraiths.

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Percy had to momentarily tear his eyes away from the wall of the Poseidon cabin. He looked at his laptop. A new message, from Achilles and Jason.

He frowned. The e-mail read: ' _There's been another attack on demigods. Moscow this time. Achilles and I will check it out. Chiron told us about the Labyrinth. I think it's best if you stay in New York for now._ '

It took all his self control not to fling his laptop across the room. Another attack. Another place where demigods were massacred by, presumably, Kronos or Darkstorm's forces.

Percy sighed and stood up, cracking his neck. His eyes were bloodshot from staring at his laptop for so long and he felt very sleepy. But Chiron had called for a war council. Something had to be done about the Labyrinth entrance inside the Camp.

At the war council, there sat most of the cabin leaders, along with Percy, Pieter, Chiron and Thalia. Percy frowned, noticing a demigod handcuffed to a chair. This particular demigod was gagged and Celestial Bronze shackles were on him.

"Who's this?", Percy asked.

Luke glared at the handcuffed demigod. "Chris Rodriguez. He's a former Camper. Now works for Kronos. We caught him in the woods. He must've come out of the Labyrinth."

Pieter's eyes genuinely widened. "You mean he can navigate it?"

Chiron shook his head. "No. He ... got lucky. He doesn't have Ariadne's string."

"Ah yes.", Pieter muttered, realizing something. "The string."

Percy took a deep breath, and walked towards the handcuffed demigod. He looked at Chiron and Pieter. "Has he said anything?"

"Plenty.", Luke muttered angrily. "He only keeps reminding us of Kronos's growing numbers."

Percy stared at the cabin leaders, then raised his palm and let out a thunderous WHACK!

The demigod's head was thrown to the side as his nose cracked. Blood freely flowed from his broken nose, and the demigod began to cough. When he lifted his head again, there was a blue knot on his cheekbone.

"PERCY!" Chiron exclaimed.

Nobody else reacted outwardly, but the demigods felt a little uneasy. They'd never seen an easy-going guy like Percy lose his cool so quickly.

Percy gripped Chris's throat, applying pressure. "The entirety of Netherlands, and now Moscow. How did Kronos and Darkstorm do it without alerting the gods? HOW?!", he shouted the last part out.

Chris didn't answer Percy's question. He probably couldn't. Only one thing came out of his mouth. A phrase, like as if someone had replaced his voice box with a audio file on repeat. He kept saying, "The time of madness and disdain approaches! The White Frost approaches!"

"What the hell?", Percy muttered, leaving Chris's throat. "What kind of a message is that?!"

"He has been saying that since the past six hours.", Luke said.

"The White Frost? I've heard that somewhere.", Percy said.

Annabeth frowned for a moment before she perked up. "I remember! It's a phenomenon that's consistent with Norse Myths and most Northern European regions. The White Frost is supposed to be the end of the world."

"Yeah.", Percy muttered. "Though the White Frost is supposed to just be a myth. And it's from Norse myths, not Greek. Why is this guy sprouting lines from Norse myths?"

RING! RING!

Percy suddenly jerked up as his pocket shook. He reached into his pants and grabbed his phone, which rang mercilessly. "Hello?"

" _It's me._ "

"Me who?", Percy said, though he was aware it was Jason.

" _Don't fuck around ... Anyway, I'm at a call booth. Achilles and I were sweeping the areas where the people were either killed or abducted._ "

"Find anything?", Percy asked.

" _Yeah. We did. This time, the attack is a bit different. Most of the demigods who were killed off were weak. All were minor gods' children. We think that some of the stronger ones have been abducted._ "

"Abducted?!", Percy exclaimed, making the whole room stare at him.

" _Yeah. But that's not it. We questioned the neighbors, and all of them swear up and down that a group of green skeletal riders came and did all of this. I dunno about you, but to me it sounds an awful lot like The Wild Hunt._ "

Internally, Percy was having a panic seizure. He was aware of the existence of other mythologies. And he knew that the Norse gods had fought against Olympus once before. What if the Wild Hunt was a sign of their allegiance to Kronos?

Percy frowned, before his eyes widened. "Of course. Kronos must have promised them souls!"

"Huh?', said the whole room. They hadn't heard the conversation Percy had with Jason.

"Right.", Percy said. "You guys must've heard about the massacre in Netherlands which happened months ago, right?"

"Yeah.", Annabeth said. "But what has that got to do with this?"

"I spoke to Jason. He and Achilles both think that the killings were not the doings of local monsters, but The Wild Hunt."

"Are you sure?", Chiron asked hesitantly.

"Pretty sure. Achilles said that the witnesses saw a ghastly horde of skeletal riders. That has to be the Wild Hunt."

"Ahem.", Pieter interrupted hastily. "In the meantime, we need to discuss what is to be done about the Labyrinth."

Percy frowned. As the days went by, Pieter was acting weirder and weirder. But Percy didn't voice his concerns. Maybe the guy had his own issues.

"Yes," Annabeth said. "Kronos and Darkstorm must be looking for Daedalus. The greatest architect, the greatest inventor of all time. If the legends are true, his workshop is in the center of the Labyrinth. He's the only one who knew how to navigate the maze perfectly. If the enemy managed to find the workshop and convince Daedalus to help him, they wouldn't have to fumble around searching for paths, or risk losing their army in the maze's traps. They could navigate anywhere they wanted—quickly and safely. First to Camp Half-Blood to wipe us out. Then…to Olympus."

Charles Beckendorf put his huge hands on the table. "Back up a sec, Annabeth, you said 'convince Daedalus'? Isn't Daedalus dead?"

Pieter grunted. "I would hope so. He lived, what, three thousand years ago? And even if he were alive, don't the old stories say he fled from the Labyrinth?"

Chiron clopped restlessly on his hooves. "That's the problem, Pieter. No one knows. There are rumors … well, there are many disturbing rumors about Daedalus, but one is that he disappeared back into the Labyrinth toward the end of his life. He might still be there."

"We need to go in," Percy announced. "We have to find the workshop before Darkstorm does. If Daedalus is alive, we convince him to help us, not them. If Ariadne's string still exists, we make sure it never falls into Darkstorm's hands."

"Wait a second," Charles said. "If we're worried about an attack, why not just blow up the entrance? Seal the tunnel?"

"Great idea!" Grover said. "I'll get the dynamite!"

Percy looked at them like they were fools. "Because there isn't a physical entrance. The only way to enter is via an invisible portal inside the forest."

"Oh.", Grover said.

Soon, everyone was gathered in the Arena. They were waiting. For Annabeth. Apparently, the whole Camp decided she should lead the quest. Percy had argued against it. He hated the idea of a prophecy being given to them. He just wanted to go in, find Daedalus, tie him to a chair and torture him until he handed the string and then leaving him there. Sadly, that wasn't his call anymore.

Percy tried not to be too egoistical, but anyone can get annoyed when the state of a whole camp is going to depend upon a girl who is thousands of years younger than you.

He gave up on pacing and left the arena. He stared across the fields at the Big House's attic window, dark and still.

"Perseus," a girl whispered.

He frowned, before noticing her green skin and elvish ears. "You're the dryad, Juniper.

She gestured him over urgently. "You need to know: Luke and Annabeth weren't the only ones I saw around that portal."

"What do you mean?"

She glanced back at the arena. "I was trying to say something, but he was right there."

"Who?"

"The sword master," she said. "He was poking around the rocks."

Percy's stomach clenched. "Pieter? When?"

"I don't know: I don't pay attention to time. Maybe months ago, when he first showed up."

"What was he doing? Did he go in?"

"I—I'm not sure. He's creepy, Percy. I didn't even see him come into the glade. Suddenly he was just there. You have to tell Grover it's too dangerous—"

"Juniper?" Grover called from inside the arena. "Where'd you go?"

Juniper sighed. "I'd better go in. Just remember what I said. Don't trust that man!"

She ran into the arena.

Percy stared at the Big House, feeling more uneasy than ever. If Pieter was up to something ... then Percy needed to keep an eye on him. He was giving Percy bad vibes since he stepped into the camp.

Somehow, Percy didn't buy it. He didn't believe Pieter was a son of Athena or even a descendant of Poseidon, even though he had the intelligence. Percy had lived for more than two thousand years and he had seen plenty of Athena's kids and Poseidon's legacies. All of them had two things in common. Golden hair and gray eyes or black hair and sea green eyes. Pieter had neither. He had silver-white hair and red eyes. Very odd.

* * *

"Go on dear.", Chiron said.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "I, ah…well, it said, you shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze..."

"The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise."

Grover perked up. "The lost one! That must mean Pan! That's great!"

"With the dead and the traitor," I added. "Not so great."

"And?" Chiron asked. "What is the rest?"

"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," Annabeth said, "the child of Athena's final stand."

Everyone looked around uncomfortably. Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, and a final stand didn't sound good.

"Hey…we shouldn't jump to conclusions," Silena said. "Annabeth isn't the only child of Athena, right?"

"But who's this ghost king?" Beckendorf asked.

Percy frowned. "The King of the Wild Hunt."

"Eh, Percy? You sure?", Luke asked.

"Yes!", Annabeth exclaimed. "In common terms, they're also called Ghost Riders. And their king would be ..."

"The Ghost King.", Pieter completed, with a smile. "Not a bad name actually."

Bianca di Angelo silently glared at Pieter, imagining a thousand ways to slowly murder him. Even now, she desperately wished to stand up and announce the truth about 'Pieter Jansen', but one look at Nico's innocent face and she decided against it. She didn't know how, but she knew that no matter how secretly she tried to slip the information to Chiron or Percy, Pieter would know.

"Are there more lines?" Chiron asked. "The prophecy does not sound complete."

Annabeth hesitated. "I don't remember exactly."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. Annabeth was known for her memory. She never forgot something she heard.

Annabeth shifted on her bench. "Something about…Destroy with a hero's final breath."

"And?" Chiron asked.

She stood. "Look, the point is, I have to go in. I'll find the workshop and stop Kronos. And…I need help." She turned to Percy. "Will you come?"

Percy sighed. "Yeah. I will."

"Great!", she beamed happily. "Also, I'd like our dear sword instructor to come too. He'd be really useful."

Luke looked a little hurt, but he didn't say anything.

Percy frowned. Pieter's face lit up like a Christmas tree. It was as if he had been waiting for this very moment.

"Of course, dear. We must defeat the enemy at any cost."

Percy stared at the crowd. Not enough members. He then spotted the children of Zeus. Thalia and Jason Grace. Also, the children of Hades. Nico and Bianca di Angelo. Nico was too young, so he was out of the question and Bianca ... had suffered enough..

"Jason and Thalia Grace.", Percy announced. "Will you join us?"

"HELL YEAH!", Thalia shouted, while Jason muttered a 'yes', in embarrassment to his sister's actions.

Percy smiled.

"Wait, Percy," Chiron said. "This goes against the ancient laws. A hero is allowed only two companions."

"Does it?", Percy asked. "Who made those laws again?"

"Percy." Chiron flicked his tail nervously. "Consider well. You would be breaking the ancient laws, and there are always consequences. Last winter, five went on a quest to save Artemis. Only four came back. Think on that. Three is a sacred number. There are three fates, three furies, three Olympian sons of Kronos. It is a good strong number that stands against many dangers. Five … this is risky."

Percy gritted his teeth. "I don't give a flying fuck about the Fates and their prophecies and laws. We're taking the number of people we need."

Chiron sighed in resignation. Percy _hated_ prophecies and the Fates. He would do absolutely anything to spite them. Like taking more than two companions on a quest. "As you wish.", Chiron muttered.

"I wish to come too!", a young boy exclaimed.

Percy frowned, and looked at Nico. "You sure?"

"Yeah! We'll kick ass!"

Percy chuckled uneasily. How could he refuse the boy in front of the whole Camp. "Nico, you're young-"

"I don't care!", Nico declared. "Bianca can come with me!"

Percy frowned, staring at Bianca. "Is this what you want?"

She nodded.

Percy sighed. "Annabeth? It's alright? Seven people?"

The demigoddess was completely alright with it. She was ecstatic. Her best friend was going to come with her. "Yeah!"

As the seven questers were leaving the arena,

"WAIT!", a voice shouted. "I'll come too!"

The seven members turned around in unison. Standing there was Luke. "I'll come too. I wan- need to come."

Percy shook his head. "Sure. Why not? More the merrier."

So, that is how one of the craziest experiences in Percy's life started. Eight members delving into the Labyrinth, trying to find Daedalus's workshop.

Percy looked at the group before him. They were formidable. Very formidable. A son of Poseidon, Two children of Zeus, two children of Hades, one son of Hermes, a daughter of Athena and the 'sword instructor' of Camp. Even an Olympian would think twice before pulling something.

* * *

( _Throne Room Of The Gods, Olympus_ )

"Very bold.", Zeus stated.

"Perseus has never missed an opportunity to defy fate, brother.", Poseidon said as a group of gods were watching the proceedings in the arena of Camp Half-Blood.

Apollo whistled as he saw the crew who would delve into the Labyrinth. "I'd hate to be the guy that crosses them. That is a LOT of fire-power they've got."

Athena frowned as he watched. "I don't like this. He's making rash decisions."

"What do you mean?", Apollo asked.

Ares stood from his seat, frowning. Even he noticed it. "The punk has taken almost all of the powerful demigods with him. If someone attacks while they're gone, then the Camp is fucked."

Hermes smiled. "Not quite."

The gods raised an eyebrow.

"I've recalled Jason and Achilles to Camp Half-Blood. They will arrive within a week."

Athena frowned. "Speaking of those two, I've been hearing disturbing rumours about something they have discovered."

"Odin is interfering with our business again.", Zeus grunted. "Maybe he needs to be taught another lesson."

"Calm down, brother.", Poseidon said. "I'm sure that the Wild Hunt operates independently from Asgard. Let us send an envoy to investigate before making rash decisions."

"Yes.", Athena said. "Hermes should go."

"What?! Why me?!"

"Because you are the messenger god, you moron!", Athena exclaimed.

"Why you-"

"ENOUGH!", Zeus shouted. "Hermes, you will go. That is an order, from your king."

The King of Olympus stared at Dionysus. "You will personally guard the Camp. If even one demigod dies, then I will turn you into a mortal permanently."

Dionysus gulped. "Y-Yes, father."

"Everyone else, get lost."

The gods grumbled before teleporting away.

"Who shat in his cornflakes?", Apollo muttered before leaving.

"You too, brother."

Poseidon sighed, standing next to the screen showing Camp Half-Blood. "Brother, perhaps it is time to tell them about their abilities."

"No.", Zeus said with a finality.

Poseidon shrugged. "Fine, but don't blame me if something happens. Perseus can handle himself, but I can't speak for the others."

Zeus glared at his brother. "Are you implying that my children are weaker than Perseus?!"

Poseidon laughed. "No. That is a well known fact. They simply don't have the experience he possesses. Hence why they need to know."

"No.", Zeus said forcefully. "My decision is final."

Poseidon nodded in resignation and was about to leave, when Zeus exclaimed "WAIT!"

The sea god frowned. "Yes?"

Zeus's eyes narrowed. "Perseus's ability. It's unique, isn't it? I thought about it for a while, but I think I know what it is now. He can absorb the life force of gods, can't he?"

Poseidon smiled. "Yes. Which is why I never told him."

Zeus shuddered as he sat on his throne. "To think a demigod would gain such a power ..."

Poseidon sighed as he sat on his own throne. "I know what you're thinking. But Perseus could never turn against Olympus."

"That isn't it, brother.", Zeus said. "Do you realize the potential he has?! If he learnt to control it, he could destroy us all single handedly without even requiring an army. Hell, he could destroy all the pantheons by himself!"

"Or ...", Poseidon began, "he could destroy Kronos and Darkstorm with that power."

Zeus seemed satisfied with the reply, but he didn't relent. "I won't have it. You can't tell Perseus."

Poseidon sighed. "Just know, brother. He will find out, sooner or later. They all will. It's not something you can hide. It is a part of them."

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

After dawn the next day, the group of eight questers met at Zeus's fist.

"Zeus's Fist?", Percy muttered as he leaned against it. "Looks like a pile of shit."

BOOM!

A rumble of thunder shook the skies. Jason frowned as he looked up. "What's wrong with dad? Why is he angry?"

"Dunno.", Percy replied. "Anyways.", he said, looking at the questers. "Guess you're all here then."

"Yep.", Luke replied, appearing at the last minute.

Thalia chuckled. "For a boy who has super speed, you're really tardy, Luke."

"Yeah yeah.", Luke muttered.

"Alright. Annabeth.", Percy motioned to her. She was the leader of the quest after all.

"Oh.", Annabeth said, a little surprised that she was being given the reins of the quest. She was sure that Percy would lead, considering that he had thousands of years of experience more.

"So.", she started. "Our goal is to get to Daedalus's workshop, which is where he should be there too. We need to convince him to hand over Ariadne's string, so that Darkstorm doesn't get his hands on it."

"Of course.", Pieter said.

"Lastly, we must stick together. United we stand, divided we fall. Any personal issues with others will be settled now. We can't afford to do this later.", Annabeth announced.

Percy looked at Pieter uneasily, remembering what Juniper told him.

' _Don't trust that man._ ', Percy thought.

Pieter's face was hard to read. And yet Percy recognized it. It was just like his own, the same expressions, the same indifferent look he always had himself before he was about to perform a dangerous task, like going into the Labyrinth.

Unbeknownst to him, Bianca too stared hesitantly at the silver haired man. It was a perfect opportunity to expose him. Percy was here. He would protect her. Right?

And yet, she didn't say anything. She had seen firsthand what Darkstorm was capable of. The power he had, she wasn't even sure if Zeus himself could stop him. Even the titans were wary of him.

"Alright!", Thalia shouted. "Let's do this shit!"

Percy chuckled. "After you, captain.", he said to Annabeth.

The blonde demigoddess blushed at being called captain. Even though she had heard it many times during capture-the-flag, this was different.

"In Thalia's words,", Annabeth said, smiling. "Let's do this shit!"

"YEAH!", the group cheered, as Annabeth walked into the portal.

Luke dashed in after her, disappearing into the Labyrinth.

Jason squinted at the portal, stepping hesitantly near it.

Thalia walked behind him and placed her boot on his behind before shoving her younger brother forward and into the Labyrinth.

Nico and Bianca followed them, and right behind them was Pieter.

Percy sighed heavily. He had a bad feeling about this, but he jumped in nevertheless.

But Percy was in for a shock when he landed into the Labyrinth. This wasn't the same corridor he had appeared in when he went to save Luke and Annabeth. This corridor was completely different.

"GUYS!", Percy shouted over the blackness. "ANYONE?!"

And also ... he was alone. He was separated from the others.

"Fuck me.", Percy muttered.

* * *

"YAY! We made it!", Thalia exclaimed.

"No.", Jason muttered.

"Huh?", Thalia replied. "Where are the others?"

They weren't in a corridor like the one Annabeth had told her about, but in a different type of corridor. This one looked a bit more modern, complete with metallic walls.

"What the hell?!", Thalia cursed. "Where are we?!"

Jason frowned. "I don't know. But it's only the two of us. I think the others got transported somewhere else."

Thalia sighed. "So much for 'united we stand'."

* * *

Annabeth landed into the Labyrinth on one knee, with one hand on the hilt of her dagger.

Suddenly, a demigod tumbled inside and landed on top of her.

The demigoddess blushed hard when she saw Luke's face inches from her own.

A millisecond later and Luke stood straight. "Right.", he muttered. "Let's wait for the others."

The silence was awkward, but tolerable.

But too much time had passed. "Hey, where is everyone?", Luke exclaimed. "I thought they'd follow after us."

Annabeth frowned. "I think ... they did."

"You mean they landed somewhere else? Is that possible?"

"With the Labyrinth, anything is possible.", Annabeth said ominously.

* * *

Nico and Bianca landed in the Labyrinth too, and they too were separated.

"Where are everyone? Where's Annabeth?", Nico asked, fiddling with a small Bronze sword Chiron had given him.

Bianca frowned. "Stick close to me Nico."

She heaved a sigh of relief. One good thing had come out of their separation.

"At least Darkstorm didn't get here too.", she muttered.

Suddenly, the Labyrinth shook as a demonic voice filled the tunnel. " **HOLD THAT THOUGHT, DAUGHTER OF HADES!** "

Bianca gulped. They were in the Labyrinth alone and away from Percy and the Camp. Darkstorm could kill them easily and call it a casualty.

'NO!', Bianca thought. 'I won't let him ruin anyone else's life. I have to make it to Percy. He needs to know.'

She nudged Nico. "Run!"

The boy didn't need to be told twice. He ran for all he was worth, with his sister in tow.

And lucky they did. As soon as Bianca and Nico cleared the tunnel, the hallway filled with blackness, with a tinge of red. In the centre was Darkstorm, in all his demonic glory.

Nico's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he looked into the deep dark red eyes of Darkstorm. The golden cape fluttered as the reddish black energy around Darkstorm collected itself into his palm.

" **And now, you die.** "

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* * *

 **A/N: Lol, so much for unity. I'm actually excited more now. Darkstorm's arc as 'Pieter Jansen' is over. Shit will soon hit the fan.**

 **As always, please review. Tell me your thoughts on the chapters and feel free to give your own ideas for the challenges that the demigods should face. I promise I will choose one given by you guys. The next chapter is yours.**


	20. Perils Of The Labyrinth

**A/N: This is AWESOME! My story has 40,000 views! Please review as usual.  
**

* * *

 _Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _'NO!', Bianca thought. 'I won't let him ruin anyone else's life. I have to make it to Percy. He needs to know.'_

 _She nudged Nico. "Run!"_

 _The boy didn't need to be told twice. He ran for all he was worth, with his sister in tow._

 _And lucky they did. As soon as Bianca and Nico cleared the tunnel, the hallway filled with blackness, with a tinge of red. In the centre was Darkstorm, in all his demonic glory._

 _Nico's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he looked into the deep dark red eyes of Darkstorm. The golden cape fluttered as the reddish black energy around Darkstorm collected itself into his palm._

 _" **And now, you die.**_

* * *

( _With Luke Castellan And Annabeth Chase_ )

They made it a hundred feet before they were hopelessly lost.

The tunnel looked nothing like the one Annabeth and Luke had stumbled into before. Now it was round like a sewer, constructed of red brick with iron-barred portholes ever ten feet. Luke shined a light through one of the portholes out of curiosity, but he couldn't see anything. It opened into infinite darkness. Luke heard voices on the other side, but it may have been just the wind.

Annabeth tried her best to guide the both of them. She had this idea that they should stick to the left wall.

"If we keep one hand on the left wall and follow it," she said, "we should be able to find our way out again by reversing course."

Unfortunately, as soon as she said that, the left wall disappeared. They found themselves in the middle of a circular chamber with eight tunnels leading out, and no idea how they'd gotten there.

"Um, which way did we come in?" Luke said nervously, getting freaked out by the Labyrinth's shifting and illusions.

"Just turn around," Annabeth said.

They each turned toward a different tunnel. It was ridiculous. Neither of them could decide which way led back to camp.

"So much for reversing course," Luke said. "Which way now?"

Annabeth swept her flashlight beam over the archways of the eight tunnels. As far as Luke could tell, they were identical. "That way," she said.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"Deductive reasoning."

"Yeah right.", he scoffed.

Annabeth turned around and glared at him. Luke gulped and moved forward. "Alright ma'am, lead the way."

Annabeth seemed pleased and the both of them continued forward.

The tunnel she'd chosen narrowed quickly. The walls turned to gray cement, and the ceiling got so low that soon, Luke and Annabeth were forced to crawl through.

Luke's face turned bright red as he crawled behind Annabeth. His face was right behind her ... butt. And he couldn't help but stare.

A kick to his chest snapped Luke out of his daze. He couldn't see Annabeth's face, but he could tell she was angry. "Of all the times Luke! Come on!"

Of course, internally Annabeth was having a myriad of emotions running through her. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or angry. She decided on indifference.

They kept crawling forward. Just when Luke was sure the tunnel would get so narrow it would squish them, it opened into a huge room. He shined his light around the walls and said, "Whoa."

The whole room was covered in mosaic tiles. The pictures were grimy and faded, but one could still make out the colours—red, blue, green, gold. The frieze showed the Olympian gods at a feast. There was Poseidon, with his trident, holding out grapes for Dionysus to turn into wine. Zeus was partying with satyrs, and Hermes was flying through the air on his winged sandals. The pictures were beautiful, but they weren't very accurate.

In the middle of the room was a three-tiered fountain. It looked like it hadn't held water in a long time.

"What is this place?" Luke muttered. "It looks—"

"Roman," Annabeth said. "Those mosaics are about two thousand years old."

"..."

"All right," Annabeth said. "Forward."

Luke frowned. "Annabeth. That way looks ... dangerous and old."

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "The architecture is getting older. That's a good sign. Daedalus's workshop would be in the oldest part."

That would make sense. But soon the maze was toying with them—they went fifty feet and the tunnel turned back to cement, with brass pipes running down the sides. The walls were spray-painted with graffiti. A neon tagger sign read TRUMP SUX.

"I'm thinking this is not Roman," Luke said helpfully.

Annabeth took a deep breath, then forged ahead.

Every few feet the tunnels twisted and turned and branched off. The floor beneath them changed from cement to mud to bricks and sometimes even to metal and back again. There was no sense to any of it. They stumbled into a wine cellar—a bunch of dusty bottles in wooden racks—and even a torture chamber.

"Damn. That's cruel stuff.", Luke said, shuddering as he saw some of the torture devices.

There was a particular chair which caught his interest. It was like any other chair, except that the seat and armrests and backrest had spikes all over it.

Needless to say, they didn't spend much time in that particular room.

"We have to get deeper into the maze," Annabeth said. "There has to be a way to the center."

She led Luke to the right, then the left, through a corridor of stainless steel like some kind of air shaft, and they arrived back in the Roman tile room with the fountain.

This time, they weren't alone.

What Luke noticed first were his faces. Both of them. They jutted out from either side of his head, staring over his shoulders, so his head was much wider than it should've been, like a hammerhead shark, but bigger, and all he saw were two overlapping ears and mirror-image sideburns.

He was dressed like a New York City doorman: a long black overcoat, shiny shoes, and a black top-hat that somehow managed to stay on his double-wide head.

"Well, you little shits?" said his left face. "Hurry up!"

"Don't mind him," said the right face. "He's terribly rude. Right this way, miss."

Annabeth's jaw dropped, unable to comprehend what the hell was happening. "Uh…I don't…"

Luke frowned. "This guy ... has two faces!"

"The guy has ears, you know!" the left face scolded. "Now come along, dirtbags!"

"No, no," the right face said. "This way, miss. Talk to me, please."

The two-faced man regarded Annabeth as best he could out of the corners of his eyes. It was impossible to look at him straight on without focusing on one side or the other. Luke then noticed the two Celestial Bronze doors behind him which had Stygian Iron locks on them.

He frowned. This wasn't there a while ago when he and Annabeth had came through.

The frieze of the gods looked exactly the same, so was this another room or did those doors just appear again?

Behind them, the doorway they'd come through had disappeared, replaced by more mosaics. Luke frowned. They couldn't go back either.

"The exits are closed," Annabeth said.

"No shit, Sherlock!" the man's left face said.

"Where do they lead?" she asked.

"One probably leads the way you wish to go," the right face said encouragingly. "The other leads to certain death."

"I—I know who you are," Annabeth said.

"Oh, you're a smartass!" The left face sneered. "But do you know which way to choose? I don't have all day."

"Why are you trying to confuse me?" Annabeth asked.

The right face smiled. "You're in charge now, my dear. All the decisions are on your shoulders. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"I—"

"We know you, Annabeth," the left face said. "We know what you want! Your deepest darkest desires!"

"Leave her alone," Luke said. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"I'm your best friend," the right face said.

"I'm your worst nightmare," the left face said.

"I'm Janus," both faces said in harmony. "God of Doorways. Beginnings. Endings. Choices."

"I'll see you soon enough, Lucas Castellan," said the right face. "But for now it's Annabeth's turn." He laughed giddily. "Such fun!"

"Shut up!" his left face said. "This is serious. One bad choice can ruin your whole life. It can kill you and all of your friends. But no pressure, Annabeth. Choose!"

With a sudden chill, Luke remembered the words of the prophecy: the child of Athena's final stand.

"Don't do it! Don't choose!" he said.

"I'm afraid she has to," the right face said cheerfully.

Annabeth moistened her lips. "I—I chose—"

"NO!", Luke yelled, standing in front of Annabeth. "It's a trap! Both choices are wrong!"

Annabeth frowned, as if she thought about what he said and decided that it made sense. "Yeah ... but-"

"Move it, piece of shit!"

"Please step aside."

Luke turned around, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "I'm not gonna say it again. Get lost."

Both of Janus's faces frowned. "Hmm ... maybe you'd like to do it ... Yes! YOU CHOOSE!", the left face yelled.

Before Luke knew it, both he and Annabeth were wrapped in chains.

Annabeth frowned. Minor gods were a lot of things, but they stuck to their rules. If Janus wanted you to choose, he would make you choose, not make the other person choose. Added to the fact that one face should be lying and the other one not.

"You're not Janus.", Annabeth said.

The god's eyes widened, before he smiled. "Well done, daughter of Athena. Perhaps I under-estimated your intelligence."

The two headed god morphed slowly, turning into a dark skinned man with a wolf's head instead of a regular head.

" **I am Alastor, the son of Nyx and the demon of familiy blood feuds! Daughter of Athena, your ancestor, Daedalus has committed a grave sin! For that, you will PAY!** "

"Hold on!", Luke shouted. "If it's Daedalus who committed the sin then why the fuck should Annabeth pay for it?!"

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Luke! Forget it."

"Right.", the demigod said. He could see Annabeth's eyes trying to say something to him. It was then that he noticed her dagger's hilt sticking out of her back pocket. Near his foot.

Immediately, Luke used one leg to kick the dagger into the air, then prayed to all the gods as he kicked the dagger with his other leg towards Alastor.

"BULLSEYE!", Luke shouted.

Immediately, the chains came loose and Luke kicked them off. Before Alastor could recover, Annabeth had grabbed the chains and thrown them over the demon, effectively sealing off his powers.

Alastor roared in pain as the dagger connected with his shoulder and the chains went around his arms and legs. " **SON OF HERMES! YOUR CHILDREN WILL PAY FOR THIS!** "

"What the?", Luke muttered. "What's wrong with him?"

Annabeth sighed as she got up and began to open one of the doors. "Alastor is like the Furies. But, the Furies are sent after people who have committed many sins. Alastor goes after the sinner's family, or more specifically, the younger generations."

Luke frowned. "Wait a minute. So, sometimes, when a family is cursed, say they're unable to have a son or that they're ancestral home is haunted, ... it's this guy doing it?"

"Yeah, I guess.", Annabeth said.

Luke's eyes narrowed. "This little shit."

The son of Hermes unsheathed his sword and held it under the wolf head before the demon could get up. "Tell me, Alastor, why I shouldn't kill you right now? You've caused harm to a lot of people, haven't you?"

"No, Luke.", Annabeth said, lowering his hand. "We can't."

"Why not?!", Luke said angrily.

"Because,", Annabeth started, "all of these vengeful spirits have a reason for existing. Even Alastor. I hate to say it, but yeah, he's important in a sense."

"HOW?! How is this useless-"

"Luke! Think about it! People need to be afraid of the consequences. Without Alastor, nobody will think of what will happen to the younger generations because of their actions. Actions need to have consequences. Take global warming for instance. If it weren't existing, don't you think people would use up all the resources of the planet like crazy?"

"Yeah but-"

"Alastor is something like that. He causes these consequences."

Luke sighed, frowning at the wolf headed demon who sat without uttering a word. "We'll release you, Alastor, if you do one thing."

The demon perked up, eager to negotiate for his freedom.

"You need to swear on the Styx never to go after any of the demigods or their families and future generations. We have enough bad luck as it is."

Alastor's eye twitched. "..."

Annabeth ripped out her dagger from Alastor's shoulder, making the demon cry in pain. "Swear it.", Annabeth said forcefully.

" **I ... swear on the river Styx that I will never go after the families or future generations of demigods.** "

* * *

( _With Perseus_ )

"Great.", Percy muttered as he trudged through the sewer. "Another boggy shithole."

He cringed as his boots squished something soft. "Fucking hell", he cursed. "This armour is new."

Finally, he made it to dry land, and immediately kicked off his boots and removed his socks, which were soaked with all sorts of nasty stuff.

No matter how many times it happened, Percy never got used to travelling like this. To top it off, he had completely forgotten to create an air bubble around his boots and pants, which was probably why his boots came into contact with shit in the first place.

He didn't dare sit down upon seeing the amount of filth on the floor. Instead, he concentrated hard, forming water out of thin air. It wasn't an easy task, but he managed it.

He imagined the Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms in the atmosphere and forced them to react with each other. But his powers ensured that the reaction was non-explosive, and slowly, he managed to create one hundred percent pure water.

Mentally, he separated the water into two parts. One part of the water shot towards his boots which he had removed and the water flowed through it, cleaning it up until it was good as new.

The second part of the water he kept aloft while he wore his clean boots again.

Then, he mentally commanded the water to surround his boots in a thin film. He sighed and continued forward. The film of water hardened, and made sure nothing came into contact with his boots or his pants.

Finally, he reached the end of the sewer, but was met with something that made him want to pound his head onto a wall.

The sewer gate was shut tight. With Celestial Bronze reinforcements.

"Awesome.", Percy muttered. "Just awesome."

He sighed and sat near the dry part of the floor, thinking of how he was going to get the gate to open, when he suddenly got an idea.

He rummaged through his backpack and found a few cylinders of Greek fire. There were explosive and non-explosive versions. Naturally, he took the explosive one and chucked it at the grate.

Before it exploded, Percy summoned more pure water and shielded himself for the inevitable explosion.

And he wasn't wrong. The force shoved him backwards, but he managed to stay on his ground.

"FUCK!", Percy shouted. He should have taken the non-explosive version.

But at least the result was satisfactory.

When he looked up, the grate had been blown to bits, and even part of the surrounding wall was shattered.

"Yes!"

He bent his head and stepped in, avoiding the fire, and immediately the tunnel shifted into an older form. The walls were a mixture of raw volcanic rock and polished granite. The floor was pure granite, and was every bit as hard as it should be, echoing as his boots walked over it.

Percy frowned. "The fuck? Where am I?"

His eyes widened when he saw what was in front of him.

There are many creatures in Greek mythology which are an amalgam of two or more animals, but nothing scared Percy more than this one. It had a woman's body from the waist up. But instead of a lower body of a horse or a goat or even a bull, it had the body of a dragon—at least twenty feet long, black and scaly with enormous claws and a barbed tail.

Her legs were sprouting snakes, hundreds of vipers darting around, constantly looking for something to bite. The woman's hair was also made of snakes, and seemed to be even more terrifying than Medusa's head.

And around her waist, where the woman part met the dragon part, her skin bubbled and morphed, occasionally producing the heads of animals—a vicious wolf, a bear, a lion, as if she were wearing a belt of ever-changing creatures.

Percy's eyes widened further as he recognized the beast, this creature.

This was the former warden of Tartarus, the torturer of the Elder Cyclopes and the Hekatonkheires, the Hundred-Handed-Ones. This was a being so terrifying that Zeus himself didn't dare challenge her without his Master Bolt. This was Kampe.

Percy crouched in the shadows, but the monster wasn't paying him any attention. It seemed to be talking to someone inside a cell on the second floor. That's where the sobbing was coming from. The dragon woman said something in a language Percy didn't understand at first. Her voice was raspy and ancient.

" **Byddwch yn gweithio i'r meistr neu'n dioddef.** " [You will work for the master or suffer.]

Percy could make out what she said, he could hear each syllable perfectly, and for some reason, he could even understand what she was saying. Percy frowned. This wasn't Greek, or Latin, or any other language he knew, but still ... how did he understand?

He frowned and closed his eyes, trying to listen for a response, and he heard one.

" **Ni fyddaf yn gwasanaethu!** " [I will not serve!]

Percy frowned. This voice ... sounded a lot like a cyclope's voice, and it sounded like it was wounded and in a lot of pain.

" **Yna byddaf yn mwynhau eich poen, Briares.** " [Then I shall enjoy your pain, Briares.]

Percy's eyes widened. BRIARES?! 'That's the name of ... a fucking HEKATONKHEIRE!', he thought.

The half-dragon tromped toward the stairwell, vipers hissing around her legs like grass skirts. She spread wings that Percy hadn't noticed before—huge black wings she kept folded against her dragon back. She leaped off the catwalk and soared across the courtyard. Percy crouched lower in the shadows. A hot sulfurous wind blasted his face as the monster flew over. Then she disappeared around the corner.

Percy knew he had to do something. A Hundred-Handed-One! He was probably the last of his kind.

As Percy approached the cell, he could tell that something was terribly off. To start with, the Hundred-Handed One was really small, almost the size of a human. His arms were even smaller, and covered his entire upper body, which somehow looked worse than Kampe's head. And he was sobbing.

"Why's he so small?", Percy muttered as he got near.

"Psst!" Percy whisper shouted.

Briars looked up. His face was long and sad, with a crooked nose and bad teeth. He had deep brown eyes—completely brown with no whites or black pupils, like eyes formed out of clay.

"Run while you can, hero," Briares said miserably. "She will be back."

"You haven't even heard me out!" Percy insisted. "Listen! Hey!"

Briars wiped his nose with five or six hands. Several others were fidgeting with little pieces of metal and wood from a broken bed. The hands seemed to have a mind of their own. They built a toy boat out of wood, then disassembled it just as fast. Other hands were scratching at the granite floor for no apparent reason. Others were playing rock, paper, scissors. A few others were making ducky and doggie shadow puppets against the wall.

"Come on! Let's get you out of here! Where's your warrior face?! Speaking of which, where's the rest of your faces?! I thought you had fifty!"

Immediately Briares's face morphed into something else. Same brown eyes, but otherwise totally different features. He had an upturned nose, arched eyebrows, and a weird smile, like he was trying to act brave. But then his face turned back to what it had been before.

"No good," he said. "My scared face keeps coming back."

Percy sighed. "It's fine. Just come."

He held out his hand. For a second, Briares's face morphed to a hopeful expression. Several of his arms reached out, but twice as many slapped them away.

"I cannot," he said. "She will punish me."

"It's all right," Percy promised. "You fought the Titans before, and you won, remember?"

"I remember the war." Briares's face morphed again—furrowed brow and a pouting mouth. His brooding face. "Lightning shook the world. We threw many rocks. The Titans and the monsters almost won. Now they are getting strong again. Kampê said so."

Percy frowned. "Fuck Kampe. She's not friggin' Chaos to tell you who's strong and who's not. Just use that strength of yours to open these bars."

Percy sighed. "Screw it."

He grabbed two bars, one with each hand and pulled. "FUCKING HELL!", Percy cursed. Celestial Bronze was hard. Very hard. Harder than it should have been for him.

But his super strength as a son of Poseidon paid off as the bars finally bent and snapped off.

Percy cracked his knuckles. "Damn. I'm out of shape."

"Don't listen to Kampe," Percy said. "Come on!"

He didn't move. Percy sighed. He didn't have much time before Kampê returned. But he couldn't just leave him here. He might be literally the last of his kind. Athena would murder him if she came to know he let an endangered species die off.

"One game of rock, paper, scissors," Percy blurted out. "If I win, you come with me. If I lose, I'll leave you here with Kampe."

Briares's face morphed to doubtful. "I always win rock, paper, scissors."

"We'll see" Percy pounded his fist in his palm three times.

Briares did the same with all one hundred hands, which sounded like a pounding of hammers. He came up with a whole avalanche of rocks, a classroom set of scissors, and enough paper to make a fleet of airplanes.

"I told you," he said sadly. "I always—" His face morphed to confusion. "What is that you made?"

"A gun," Percy told him, showing him his finger gun. "A gun beats anything."

"That's not fair."

"I didn't say anything about fair. Kampê's not going to be fair if we hang around. She's going to blame you for ripping off the bars. Now come on!"

Briares sniffled. "Demigods are cheaters." But he slowly rose to his feet and followed us out of the cell.

Percy sighed in relief. Fucking finally. But he thought too soon.

On the ground floor right below, Kampê was snarling at him, her black wings outstretched and her fangs gleamed. She held two scimitars which were dripping with acid.

" **DEMIGOD!** ", she roared.

Percy stared at the creature. "Well, shit."

The half-dragon leapt off the large balcony and swooped down.

Percy's eyes widened. "What the?".

Her body structure was so messed up that she shouldn't have been able to glide like that. She should have fallen face first onto the ground!

Percy rolled to the side in a fashion that would make Dark Souls players jealous. His back barely touched the ground as he sprung back to his feet and used the momentum to launch himself like a cannonball towards Kampe.

Mid-air, he unsheathed his two Celestial Bronze blades and swung them in a diagonal arc, drawing copious amounts of black blood from the monster's waist.

Without stopping, he used one of the three heads at the monster's waist as a springboard to get above Kampe's head. Then, it was just a matter of gravity as he fell with his blades beneath him, plunging the twin swords into the top of her head.

Percy then used the dragon's tail to slide down to the floor like a surfer coming to rest after a big wave.

"YEAH!", Percy exclaimed as he kicked the corpse of the fallen half-dragon.

"Hmm, you know, I don't know why everyone's so scared of her. She was nothing."

The Hundred Handed One, however, only gulped as he stared behind Percy.

Percy's eyes widened. "Gotta be kidding me."

He turned around to see Kampe standing up and ripping the twin blades out of her head. " **YOU WILL DIE, DEMIGOD!** "

Percy had barely enough time to parry an attack from her scimitars and roll away, and yet his arms felt numb as he did so. How strong were her strikes?!

Percy dodged another strike, and when he did, the air pressure from Kampe's swing sent a deep crack into the marble floor, shaking the whole courtyard. Percy then jumped back as the monster lodged her scimitars into the ground, sending webs of cracks throughout the room.

"FUCK!", Percy cursed. "How am I supposed to beat her?!"

"You don't.", a low voice said. The voice's tone and decibel level was so low that Percy could barely hear it. But he did.

That sudden interruption threw Percy off guard for a microsecond, but that was enough for Kampe to get a hit in with her tail, sending the demigod flying through the courtyard.

He smashed through the marble pillars, which should have led to the collapse of the entire courtyard, but only later did Percy understand why.

Kampe leaped high and was about to finish off Percy, but suddenly, Percy rolled away.

She'd been glaring at Briares, but Percy got her attention as soon as he nailed her in the chest with a ten foot long piece of a marble pillar, pushing her back into the wall. She shrieked and slashed with her scimitars, slicing the pole to shreds. Poison dripped in pools all around her, sizzling into the granite.

Percy jumped back as Kampê's hair lashed and hissed, and the vipers around her legs darted their tongues in every direction. A lion popped out of the weird half-formed faces around her waist and roared.

Before Percy could react, a wolf head popped out from the half-formed faces, scratching Percy.

The demigod retaliated by slicing the wolf head off.

Before Kampe could retaliate, a blinding light filled the room.

At first, Percy thought it was a god, but the light wasn't golden like the signature energy gods emitted. This was a bright white light, like as if someone had multiplied the intensity of a light-bulb by a thousandfold.

The light was so bright that both Percy and the dragon-lady had to stop fighting.

Percy squinted at the light source, but he couldn't see anything. The light was so bright that the source couldn't be seen.

But soon, the light did die down, and Percy was in for a shock as he saw what had arrived.

* * *

( _With Nico And Bianca Di Angelo_ )

"HA!", Bianca yelled as her sword deflected another blast of energy. But the impact was heavy, and her arms felt numb after the attack. Her sword wasn't going to last much longer either.

Darkstorm's head tipped a little low. " **Impressive. You have come a long way, Bianca di Angelo.** "

The daughter of Hades looked behind her, to make sure nothing had happened to Nico.

Another ball of reddish-black energy formed in Darkstorm's hand. " **Never take your eyes off your opponent.** "

Bianca gasped as Darkstorm suddenly appeared in front of her, completely ignoring the barrier of darkness she had conjured up to keep her and Nico safe.

" **It was never my intention to kill you, Bianca. But in my defense, you've been dead to me for centuries.** "

"Huh?!", Bianca frowned.

Darkstorm's hand raised and she could only see a blur. I mean, she literally only saw a blur as his fingers and palm vibrated like an old Nokia phone, but at a much higher frequency. It sounded like a lower pitched version of helicopter blades whirring.

But before his hand could connect with her chest, Darkstorm was thrown backwards several feet. Nico had his arms outstretched, and wisps of black shadows surrounded it.

When Darkstorm stood, he was so mad he ripped off his helmet.

Nico gasped. "I-It's you? Pieter?"

Darkstorm threw the helmet to the side.

Bianca shook her head. "Nico. That's not Pieter. There is no Pieter."

Darkstorm laughed, momentarily not attacking them. Suddenly, he flicked his finger and both demigods flew against the wall, cracking the stone.

He then shook his hands and feet. "Ooh. I feel a burden lifted."

Bianca's eyes widened as she tried to get out of his telekinetic lock.

But Darkstorm didn't look at her. "You know, this whole deep cover thing ... it just wasn't terribly well thought out. Donning this 'Pieter Jansen' mask? This grim face of demigodly constipation? Just ugh!"

Bianca had her body pinned, but her left hand was free, she slowly brought out a Celestial Bronze pocket knife from her back pocket, careful not to alert Darkstorm.

Darkstorm walked around, "And then ... teaming up with you guys, you demigods and gods? I mean, I thought you all were insufferable as mortal enemies, but ... working with you? That's the soul crusher!"

Bianca then began to slowly open up the knife.

Darkstorm suddenly stopped talking about himself. "Why the faces, kids? After all, you are going to meet your dear daddy soon. Of course, I will have to kill you both for that, but still, don't you feel excited?!"

Darkstorm then snapped his fingers, and Bianca screamed. Immense pain filled her being as her finger bones cracked.

"Nice try.", Darkstorm said.

Nico's face grew hot as sweat dripped down. This man ... this maniac in front of him was so utterly insane that it scared him to his bones. There was no telling what Darkstorm was going to do next.

Darkstorm chuckled darkly, and the tunnel only made it echo. He tilted his head side to side, and Nico could see black veins creeping up from his neck till it reached his face. Darkstorm's mouth became wider to form a psychotic smile as his right hand started to vibrate. When he spoke, he no longer spoke regularly. He spoke as though his helmet was still on.

" **Well ... this is going to be so much fun.** "

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* * *

 **A/N: *insert evil laugh***

 **I'd also like to thank 'aRTsyisAwesome' for the idea of Alastor. Other than that, please do send your thoughts and opinions about this chapter.**


	21. Anaklusmos

**A/N: Since we hit 50K views and 200 followers on this story, here's my attempt at a really long chapter. Almost 10,000 words I think. ENJOY!**

* * *

 _Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _Darkstorm chuckled darkly, and the tunnel only made it echo. He tilted his head side to side, and Nico could see black veins creeping up from his neck till it reached his face. Darkstorm's mouth became wider to form a psychotic smile as his right hand started to vibrate. When he spoke, he no longer spoke regularly. He spoke as though his helmet was still on._

 _" **Well ... this is going to be so much fun.** "_

* * *

( _With Thalia And Jason Grace_ )

"In HERE!". Jason shouted to his sister.

They burst out of the narrow tunnel they were in, and stumbled into a much larger tunnel, if you could call it that. Jason could have sworn this tunnel was made for giants exclusively. The height of the ceiling must've been three hundred feet easily.

HISS!

The two demigods turned to face the group they had been running from so far.

Leading the group was a mage skeleton, or at least that's what Jason called it. It seemed to have authority over the others and held a staff in one hand.

"Rofuusbdsg!", the mage skeleton hissed and raised it's staff, aiming it at Thalia. A blue ball of fire launched from the staff.

"NO!", Jason shouted.

The demigod jumped in front of his sister, raising his gladius. He swung the gladius in a way he hadn't ever done before. He swung it using only his wrist and he swung it upwards.

When the ball of fire came in contact with the swinging gladius, instead of just passing through it, like how flames should, the ball of fire turned one eighty degrees and went straight to the mage skeleton's staff with double the speed and with much more intensity.

BOOM!

The explosion rattled the whole tunnel, and when the dust settled, the mage skeleton was nothing but cinders.

"How?!", Thalia exclaimed.

Jason frowned. "I ... don't know. It just happened."

"Whatever.", Thalia said. "Now that their leader's gone, we can finish them off. On my count!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"NOW!", Thalia yelled.

A blue arc of lightning shattered the first row of skeletons.

Jason and Thalia stood next to each other with their palms outstretched. Remnant electricity still danced around their palms.

"Damn!", Jason muttered. "It's hard without the clouds above. How'd you do it so easily?"

"Cuz I'm better than you.", Thalia said as she swiped her spear diagonally, decapitating two skeletons in one go.

"Yeah?", Jason muttered. "That's why I can fly, right?"

Thalia suddenly stopped fighting and glared at her brother. "WHAT?! What did you say?!"

"Ahem. Nothing. Let's focus on the skeletons, yeah?"

"Hmph. Fine.", Thalia said. "But we'll talk about this later."

"About what later?", Jason said, kicking a skeleton into the wall, shattering it's body.

Thalia paused, then raised her hand. A blue arc of lightning shot out from it and struck a skeleton. But this wasn't a continous strike. This was a bolt of lightning which blasted apart the target and immobilized the remaining skeletons as well.

Jason flicked his hand a a gust of wind blew in the direction of the skeletons, severing them into pieces.

"I'm older. So you need to follow my orders.", Thalia said.

Jason sputtered. "W-What?! Are you serious? You're not even seventeen! I'm a year older!"

Thalia's eyes crackled with lightning. "Who the hell told you that?!"

Jason smiled nervously. "Uh ... Percy?"

Thalia's eyes narrowed. "That piece of-"

"Oh look!", Jason shouted. "A skeleton!"

"Huh?", Thalia exclaimed. "Oh."

ZAP!

"Yeah, now what I was saying was that when we get out of here, I will kill you."

Jason's eyebrow raised. "You sure?"

"Yes."

"Like, are you really sure?"

Thalia shook her head. "Whatever. Now come on. Let's check this out."

They had been running across tunnel after tunnel for hours upon end now, and throughout the entire time they were being followed by these skeletons. It had been a major pain in the ass for them to fight the skeletons in close quarters in such a small space, especially since Thalia insisted on using her spear instead of a sword or dagger.

Finally, now after luring the skeletons to a slightly larger tunnel, they destroyed them together. Which led them to this door.

It was nothing like Jason or Thalia had ever seen.

If Thalia had to guess, the door was as grandiose as the lift to Olympus, and she thought that this might be something like that. A doorway to some grand place, maybe even some mortal palace.

On the door, instead of an omega symbol, which would indicate that this was a door to Olympus, there was instead the carving of a large tree, which the both of them found weird and interesting.

So they pushed it open, expecting to find something like the Garden of the Hesperides. But what they saw before them was invariably much more divine.

Jason and Thalia walked through the door, and when they did, they landed on what could only be called a glass bridge. But when they looked at it, they could see all seven colours of the rainbow inside the bridge. Behind them, the golden door disappeared.

"Wow!"

"Holy shit!", Thalia exclaimed.

"Is this ... the Isle of the Blessed?"

"I don't know ... maybe?", Thalia said helpfully.

In front of them was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. Imagine how grand and beautiful Olympus looked like. Now imagine a place with the same level of grandness and beauty.

"Hold on!", Jason said. "Is that ... a tree?!"

Thalia frowned, and looked up. "Holy shit! It is! How can a tree be that huge?!"

" **That is Yggrasil. The World Tree.** ", a voice said, startling both demigods.

"Who's there?!", Jason exclaimed.

" **I am in front of you, demigod.** "

Jason frowned, seeing nobody and was about to say 'WTF', but the air in front of him thickened, and the oddest man he had ever had the pleasure of meeting appeared before him.

He looked like a man for the most part, but Jason knew that wasn't true. For one, this man was easily over seven feet tall and wore golden armour. And not your average Imperial gold armour either. No, this was heavy armour which looked like it had been recently dipped in pure liquid gold. It shined brighter than the walls of the Apollo cabin, which was saying something.

The second thing Jason noticed about this man was that he was black.

No, really. He wasn't trying to be racist or anything, but this dude was really black. Unnaturally black. As black as a person's hair could be. Despite that, the man's irises were pure gold, the same colour as his own armour.

"Who are you?!"

The man didn't smile or frown or even narrow his eyes. He spoke like a narrator of a movie. " **I am Heimdallr, the Gatekeeper of the Bifrost and the Watcher of the Realms. State your business on Asgard.** "

Jason's eyes widened comically. "A-Asgard?"

Thalia too was shocked. "Like the movie?"

Heimdallr's expression didn't change, but one could tell that he was mildly offended by the fact that they referred to Asgard, the home of the Norse gods only because of a movie created by humans.

But the Gatekeeper didn't get angry. He let out a small amount of air from his nose, which was the only indication that he sighed.

" **Yes. But this is not the same. This is the real Asgard.** "

Both demigods were speechless. "So ... I suppose the Norse gods are real as well?"

Heimdallr looked at the two demigods like they were fools. " **All gods are real.** "

Thalia suddenly frowned. "Wait. All gods? Like ... from all the myths?!"

" **Yes. Although I suppose some of them no longer exist ... but that is not the issue. The issue is you both, who are part of the Olympian pantheon are here on Asgard without consent from the Allfather.** "

Jason and Thalia looked at each other. "But we were just in the Labyrinth. Honestly, we don't know how we got here! Hell, we didn't even know Asgard existed!"

Heimdallr looked at the demigods with no expression on his face. " **Regardless. You are children of Zeus, which is why I do not exact punishment here and now. We will wait for the Allfather. He shall decide what must be done with the both of you.** "

Jason was getting tired of standing in the same spot for ten minutes straight.

"So where is he?"

Heimdallr frowned. " **The Allfather has a great many things to do, and as such he is currently not on Asgard. He will return soon. I have seen it.** "

Thalia frowned. "Seen it? You can see the future?"

" **Yes.** ", was Heimdallr's answer. The god didn't say much, but when he spoke you had to listen.

The demigods looked at each other. The same thoughts ran in their heads. "So ..."

" **I cannot and will not reveal the intricacies of the future events with you. It is forbidden by the Allfather himself.** "

Jason's face fell. He wanted to know the fate of the quest members. They had gotten separated. He and Thalia lucked out, but what about the others?

* * *

( _With Perseus_ )

Percy stared at the thing that had appeared.

His eye twitched upon seeing the small object that had appeared.

"A fucking ... PEN?!", Percy cursed. He swore he would find who was behind that joke and that he would murder them for it.

Percy stared at Kampe. Leaving the matter of some random pen aside, he had bigger problems. "We've got business to finish, dragon."

The monster roared, her wings extending to their full length. Using the wings as a propellant, the monster launched herself forward at impossible speeds, startling even Percy.

The demigod only had time to put his arms in front of him in an X formation.

It did not lessen the blow. The sheer force of the monster crashing into him sent him smashing straight through the ceiling. Percy felt a slight pain as his body tore through the marble ceiling of the first floor and landed on the upper floor of the courtyard.

The demigod barely landed on his feet again, slipping again due to the smoothness of the granite floor. He then unsheathed his sharpest and deadliest weapon. Maelstrom the Stygian Iron sword.

Percy turned to the side and his eyes widened as he saw two gigantic corpses which were piled on top of each other, just lying in the corner of the particular floor. Percy hadn't noticed it before because he was on the lower floor, but now he saw them. Clear as day.

The corpses were massive in size, unlike Briares. And though they were probably inherently ugly, they were now especially disfigured with scars and open wounds. Fifty faces and a hundred hands. These were the true forms of the legendary Hundred Handed Ones.

The monster noticed him staring at the corpses.

" **The traitors! They deserved it! They screamed until the end, demigod. I will make sure you will scream too.** "

The demigod felt rage growing within him. He had seen first hand how scared Briares was. And now he knew why. Kampe killed his brethren. And not painlessly either. They didn't want to serve Kronos, so they paid for that with their lives.

His teeth pressed hard against each other as thoughts of the Hundred Handed Ones screaming entered his mind. No one deserves that.

In his entire life, Percy had never met a monster as deserving of punishment as this one.

"You'll beg for mercy, bitch.", Percy said.

The monster roared and dashed forward at speeds that shouldn't have been possible for it's size. But Percy was still ready for it. The demigod charged forward and suddenly turned to the side before lifting his leg and kicking hard.

The monster was stunned and hurt by the sudden unexpected move. It was thrown back.

Without wasting time, Percy swiped Maelstrom in a diagonal arc and left a large gash on it's face. The sword slashed through the monstrous snakes at it's waist in the process, making Kampe hiss in pain.

When the monster swiped at him again, he moved diagonally in front, like a pawn taking a piece, and then he used the opening to slice the monster's leg, opening what would seem like a major blood vessel.

Kampe roared in pain, shaking the courtyard and rattling the chandeliers. Percy looked up tentatively, seeing if anything was going to fall on him. The monster swept her tail in a semi circle. The tail caught a pillar as it swung, but met no resistance as it shattered it and went on.

Percy ran forward and jumped up onto the swinging tail and caught one of the spikes with his free hand. The tail swung upwards with him on it, and at the apex of the swing he let go. As he flew up he angled himself head first to make sure his feet hit the ceiling. As soon as that happened, he pushed his legs with all his might.

The ceiling cracked as he used it as a springboard to launch himself straight down. As the demigod fell, he swung his sword downwards, slashing a very deep and fatal wound into the back of the monster's neck.

Black blood spurted out in huge amounts, spraying Percy's face and armour with it. He didn't stay one more second on the monster's back. As the tail swung to whip at him, the demigod leaped down and rolled before stopping on one knee.

He looked at the monster, who was covered in her own blood. A thought came to him, but he wasn't sure if it would work.

His eyes snapped to the blood oozing out of Kampe from multiple wounds. His left palm pointed at her, he concentrated on it, willing it to ooze out more. To his surprise, it did. Unbeknownst to him, the demigod smiled maliciously as he forced more and more blood out, hoping to weaken the monster. However, the blood kept flowing out. More blood than there should have been inside it. Which meant that Kampe's body kept regenerating the blood almost instantly.

When that didn't seem to do anything much, he decided to do something else. It wasn't exactly something he ever tried, and to be honest, he didn't want to try it either. He focused on the Hydrogen atoms inside the monster's body and willed them to separate from the Oxygen, hoping to cause an internal explosion that would hopefully kill her.

He snapped his fingers, but nothing seemed to happen. The demigod frowned. "Huh. I guess whatever is inside her is immune to molecular manipulation."

Kampe roared, her wounds slowly closing. She slowly got up and dashed forward, swiping her massive scimitars. Percy put Maelstrom up to parry it and used that force to sidestep. As he did, this left the monster's hands open.

A sickening crunch was heard as Maelstrom sliced through hide, muscle and bone without any resistance at all. The Stygian iron blade went through Kampe's wrists so quickly that the monster didn't even realize her hands were gone until they actually fell off.

The scimitars clattered to the ground.

However, it seemed like the monster's regenerative powers were only growing. Percy's eyes widened as he saw the stumps close up and slowly new hands grew within seconds. The demigod was so surprised that he didn't have enough time to register the monster's next attack, which came via her tail. Percy turned sideface and braced as the tail whipped him so hard that the resultant shockwave shattered parts of the floor in a ten foot wide ring.

The demigod flew back with such a force that he smashed straight through the marble pillar behind him and the next behind it too before coming to rest by cracking the third pillar.

Percy dropped to the ground and winced in a slight pain, like as if someone had smacked you on your back with a metal bat. But the pain quickly subsided. When he looked at Kampe, she was still in the same spot.

Percy's eyes narrowed at the monster. It was still strong. He looked at her tail. A dangerous weapon. One could argue it was more dangerous than the scimitars themselves. Then her wings, which allowed her to move around and avoid his attacks.

The dragon grabbed her scimitars and flew to the topmost height in the courtyard, which happened to be one of the broken pillars. It stayed there for a good few minutes, staring at the demigod with a mixture of fear and anger. For some reason, the monster stayed there.

Percy stared back at her. He knew he couldn't win like this. The damned bitch kept regenerating. 'Unless ... he cut out it's heart', he thought. Percy chuckled. 'That might actually do the trick.'. However, Percy's plan relied on one main variable. He knew that there had to be a source for her regenerative power, and he had already tried the head at the beginning of the fight. No idiot would have it in any limbs or even the tail, which left the heart, which was her most protected spot. But if it wasn't there ... if Kampe really just had innate regenerative powers, then he was fucked.

And Percy realized he couldn't win like this. He needed to think. What were her advantages over him? Her tail was one. She could whip it around at hypersonic speeds. That thing hurt a lot. Second was her wings, which helped her to dodge or shield herself. Lastly, Kampe wasn't a four-legged dragon. She had a (mostly) humanoid upper body, which meant she didn't have short arms. She had flight and reach. Two dangerous things to combine. Those arms had to go.

Plan was ready. All he needed was bait.

"So ...", Percy began, "I see you're taking the pussy way out."

Kampe roared in anger, spreading her wings fully and standing to her full height before swooping down, her scimitars dripping with acid.

Percy remembered the words of his mentors. Both Chiron and Athena. 'Mind over body.'. This couldn't be done by brute force alone. He had to focus. He had to concentrate. Ignore all that's around him. Ignore the dead Hekatonkheires. Ignore the wide eyes of Briares watching the fight from below. Focus only on the enemy.

His eyes snapped open, and they shone a brighter green than they were moments ago. It wasn't light reflection. They shone with raw power, immense world shattering power that even the gods should rightly fear.

Percy looked at the scimitars for a split second before his mind made the calculations for him. As the monster's scimitars came closer, his brain worked faster than a supercomputer, calculating and visualizing the exact trajectory of the swing. It would leave a thirty centimetre gap in the middle, since she dual wielded. Instead of avoiding the attack by rolling to the side like he normally would have, the demigod turned his body side-face and let the two scimitars go past him on either side.

At the same time, Maelstrom was swung in a deadly arc against Kampe's tail, severing it entirely, meeting no resistance as the strongest metal sliced through flesh, muscle and bone like butter.

Kampe cried in pain and lost balance mid air, falling to the floor in an undignified heap, sending webs of cracks everywhere and shaking the courtyard.

There was a glint in Percy's eyes. Usually, he fought based on instinct. Every move he made was by reflex due to years of practice. But now, every move he made, every step he took was with pure cold calculation. His mind worked faster than possible, calculating the most probable action the monster would take next and then making the body react to that.

This resulted in a one hundred percent successful counter-attack almost every time. It was almost like precognition. To Kampe, it was as if he knew every thing she was going to do. With a start, Percy realized that this was exactly how Darkstorm beat him the first time. It wasn't just speed and strength, but his mind as well.

With a clear and focused mind, the demigod felt stronger than ever before. His ADHD didn't slow him down like it would normally do. He felt like he could knock down Ares with a single blow.

Percy suddenly dashed forwards at Kampe with speeds he had never attained before. Even the monster, who originally should have had an upper hand, could not even see his form. All she saw was a black blur as his image and shadow struggled to keep up with him.

Before she knew it, the monster's wings were sliced off.

" **AAAAHHHHH!** ", Kampe screamed.

The monster stared fearfully into the glowing green eyes of the demigod. It scared her. Not because Percy was beating the shit out of her, but because she recognized those eyes. She had seen them somewhere. The same face, the same expression and the same fighting style. Kampe could've sworn upon the Styx that if this particular demigod bleached his hair and wore red eye contacts, he would look exactly like Darkstorm, The King of the Golden Race.

She didn't have time to think more about it as Maelstrom embedded itself into her heart. But Percy didn't stop. The demigod's eyes turned into an icy glare and his face turned into a mirror that reflected pure unadulterated rage at the monster. He twisted the sword and carved a circle into the monster's chest before ripping out his sword. At the end of the sword, there was a red heart covered in black blood. The demigod threw the heart aside.

" **T-T-That's n-not p-possible!** ", Kampe croaked as she clawed for breath with nothing but the remains of her arms.

Percy frowned and watched as the monster slowly disintegrated into fine golden powder with a shock on her face.

The demigod stared at the powder for a while before he was snapped out of it by the Hekatonkheire below. "Demigod! Are you okay?"

"Yeah!", Percy shouted. He walked to the edge of the balcony and dropped to the ground floor, cracking the marble as he landed. Not that there was much left to crack, seeing as his fight with Kampe had very nearly collapsed the entire courtyard. Maybe it would.

"Let's get out of here.", he told Briares.

The hundred handed one merely nodded and followed the demigod through the exit tunnel until they reached a small room with many tunnels leading out from it.

"Alright, Briares. Here's the thing. I'll try and open a portal to get you to Camp Half-Blood. I'll send a message as well. They'll take care of you."

Briares shook his head.

"I must go," Briares said, a little sad.

"Darkstorm's army will invade camp," Percy said. "We need help."

Briares hung his head. "I cannot, demigod."

"You are strong."

"Not anymore." Briares rose.

"Hey," Percy grabbed one of his arms. "Briares, we need you. In case you haven't noticed, Kronos is coming back. We need you. We need your strength and your forging skills. "

Percy told him about everything—Darkstorm's invasion plan, the Labyrinth entrance at the demigod camp, Daedalus's workshop, etc.

Briares just shook his head. "I cannot, demigod. I do not have a finger gun to win this game." To prove his point, he made one hundred finger guns.

"Maybe that's why monsters fade," Percy said, accepting the fact the Briares was truly lost. "Maybe it's not about what the mortals believe. Maybe it's because you give up on yourself."

His pure brown eyes regarded him. His face morphed into an expression of shame. Then he turned and trudged off down the corridor until he was lost in the shadows.

"Damn it!", Percy cursed, kicking the nearest object against the wall, which happened to be a pen.

Percy frowned. "Wait. This same fucking pen. How did it ..."

The demigod's face morphed into a look of realization and he smacked himself. "Of course. Has to be some magical item. Let's see."

He grabbed the pen. It was a regular old pen you would get anywhere. Nothing special. He twirled it around in his fingers, seeing if anything would happen.

"Hmm...", Percy muttered, deciding to experiment something. He held the pen and pointed the cap end away from him. He then flicked the cap off, expected to see a number of things, such as a video message or a magical scroll or even a damn stream of water.

He most certainly didn't expect a shining bronze sword to pop out.

"Whoa!", Percy exclaimed. The sword was beautiful, it's craftsmanship was exquisite and unique. In all his immortal life, he had never seen a sword similar to this either in terms of design or the raw power he felt as he held it. It was a weapon fit for a god.

There were runes carved into the sides of the blade. He frowned and read them. " _Anaklusmos._ Riptide."

The runes on the blade glowed blue when he read them. Percy's eyes widened. "Holy shit this is good.", he exclaimed.

The demigod experimentally swung the sword in a diagonal arc, and his heart fluttered with happiness and his brain exploded from awesomeness as the blade hummed, cutting through the air.

The runes shone blue again when he swung it, and a thin sea green aura wrapped itself around the blade.

"So ... what exactly are you?", he asked. It was just a rhetorical question. Obviously nobody would expect an answer from an inanimate object. So imagine Percy's surprise when a reply did come his way.

" _Can't you tell? I'm a sword._ "

"FUCK!", Percy exclaimed. The demigod was so surprised upon hearing a female voice coming from the sword that he left it. The sword dropped to the ground with a clang.

" _That's rude, Percy_ ", the sword continued. " _Is this how you treat an old friend?_ "

Percy frowned. "An old ... friend?"

" _Yeah. You know? Zoe? Former huntress?_ "

"Zoe? ... WHAT THE FUCK?! ZOE?! How the FUCK did you become a fucking-"

" _Jeez Percy. How did Artemis not murder you for so much foul language?_ "

Now realizing that the voice indeed was Zoe, Percy heart was a mixture of happiness and confusion. "B-But I saw you die! I saw it! Artemis even put you in the skies half a year ago!"

The blade didn't reply for a few seconds. " _I don't actually know. For now, could you pick me up?! I can't move on my own you know!_ "

Percy quickly picked up Riptide/Zoe. "So uh ... care to explain this? I know that this is the same sword you gave to that ... guy, but how did you end up inside it?"

" _I don't know. All I remember is a vast empty space. The life of a constellation gets quickly boring you know? The next thing I know, there is an old man with an eyepatch who approaches me. He said the universe still needed me. Then he sent me here._ "

Percy frowned. "This old man ... did he happen to have two ravens on his shoulders?"

" _YES! How did you know?_ "

"Met him before. I have an inkling of who he might be but I'm not entirely sure."

" _Hmm..._ "

"Speaking of,", Percy started, "when did you learn to speak properly?! You used to talk like a wannabe Juliet!"

The blade hummed and grew hot. " _Take that back!_ "

Percy's eyes widened. "Okay okay! ... But seriously, what happened to your English?"

The blade's temperature returned to normal and stopped humming. " _Time flows differently when you are a constellation. It has been five years for me, whereas apparently it has been only six months for you._ "

"Yeah, but how do you know it's been six months. You said you remembered only the old dude approaching."

" _You can be an idiot sometimes. You told me yourself that Artemis put me in the skies half a year back._ "

"Right.", Percy muttered. "But still ... you sound so different now."

" _Makes me wonder why I didn't learn to speak like this earlier. Gods, I feel a lot less awkward now when speaking to you._ "

"Huh? What was that?"

" _Nothing!_ ", Zoe squeaked out quickly.

"Well,", Percy started, "you don't know how you got here, and how you're like ... this. So for starters, let's get out of here."

It was weird for Percy. Very weird. When he looked at Riptide, he could only see a Celestial Bronze, rune engraved sword. But he knew that one of his best friends was stuck in there. And if he wasn't wrong, said being who entrapped Zoe in the sword was Odin, the leader of the Norse pantheon.

" _Yes. Let's._ "

As Percy walked by the halls, he started to feel heavy. In the sense that his legs felt heavier. Imagine walking uphill. Although he could clearly see that the floor was completely flat and not inclined at all, his upper body started to lean back and he had to bend forward and walk so that he didn't tumble back. It made no sense.

"What the hell?", Percy muttered.

" _Huh?_ ", Zoe said. Being a sword, she didn't experience the slope, since Percy was holding her.

Eventually, it came to a point where the demigod had to place his hands on the floor and climb forward, if that made any sense. The floor became the wall and the direction of gravity changed by ninety degrees.

"OH SHIT!", Percy shouted.

Out of pure reflex, he stabbed Riptide into the wall to keep himself from falling.

" _Hey!_ ", Zoe exclaimed indignantly. " _That feels weird!_ "

"Oh I'm sorry! I'm really sorry that you felt weird because I stopped my free fall!", Percy retorted sarcastically.

" _Don't use that tone with me, boy!_ "

"Yeah?", Percy said. "What are you gonna do about it? Shoot me? You might have, if you had arms!"

" _You're a despicable boy, like every other boy!_ "

"Yeah? You've had two thousand years to get used to it. It's not my fault you get triggered so easily!"

" _Fuck you!_ "

"Fuck you too!"

"..."

Silence. For the next few minutes, neither of them spoke. Percy mainly because he was hanging on to the sword and Zoe because ... simply because she was irritated.

"Sorry for bringing up your lack of limbs.", Percy started.

A sound like a sigh escaped from the sword. "I'm sorry as well ... now can we go?"

"Sure.", Percy said.

The demigod took out one of the twin bronze swords and jabbed it into the wall. He then took out Riptide and put her back into pen form. "Lemme put you in my pocket and then-"

" _HELL NO! DON'T YOU DARE PUT ME IN THAT POCKET!_ "

"?", was Percy's expression. "But why?"

If the huntress was in a humanoid form, she would have looked like a ripe tomato. " _BECAUSE ... it's closetoyourgenitals._ "

"What? I didn't get the last part.", Percy said.

" _It's too close to your man parts!_ "

"Oh", Percy said, going a little red. "But you're a sword. How does it matter?", Percy asked anyway.

" _Percy ... can you just put me in a different pocket?_ "

"Fine. Fine.", Percy said, not understanding why she'd be so upset about that when she was no longer an actual female. How would it be uncomfortable?

So the demigod attached Riptide next to Maelstrom, at his hip. He took out the other bronze blade and started to climb. He jumped up and then stabbed both blades into the wall. Once again, he pulled the swords free and leaped diagonally, stabbing the swords into the other wall again when he reached it.

Problem with this strategy? Percy couldn't jump high. It was actually entirely possible for Percy to jump several hundred metres at once into the air, but if he did that, the force with which he would impact the wall may damage it, and Percy still needed to go a long way up. So he could only jump up a dozen metres or so at once.

After thirty minutes of jumping, he still came nowhere close to end. In fact, it seemed to get harder and harder. The demigod's legs felt heavy and his arms hurt. The average length of the leaps he took reduced from a dozen metres to only five to six metres at a time. That was half the distance with double the effort. Something really didn't want him to get to the top/end.

"Damn it!", Percy cursed. "This is going to take a while."

* * *

( _With Nico and Bianca di Angelo_ )

"NNNOOO!", Nico shouted as he kicked around.

Darkstorm's vibrating hand only came closer to his chest.

"STOP!", Bianca screamed and pleaded.

"Freeze, or I will destroy you.."

All three of them snapped their heads to the side.

Standing there was a man, no, a being. He was blonde and wore a tight black outfit, which stylishly covered every part of his body except his face, which was marred by a diagonal scar running down from his right forehead to his left lower chin. In his hand he held a sword which seemed to be manifested entirely out of flames.

But that was not the most shocking part. The most shocking part would be that two huge, beautiful pure white wings were coming out of his back and spread to a wingspan of almost three metres.

Darkstorm's eyes narrowed. "Lucifer."

The archangel's wings flapped a little when he heard his name. "Darkstorm.", he said, with a tone of relief. "You're a hard man to find."

Darkstorm let go of the demigods, focusing instead at what was in front of him.

Bianca's eyes widened. "L-Lucifer? As in the devil?!"

The archangel looked down a little, as if saddened by the name. "Devil, eh? Is that all humans think of me?"

Darkstorm didn't reply to that. He frowned at the archangel. "This doesn't concern you."

Lucifer chuckled, like as if he had heard a joke. "Doesn't it?". Then the archangel's eyes turned into flames, and the flaming sword burned brighter. "YOU WILL DIE!", he roared and dashed forward.

Even Darkstorm was taken aback by the sudden speed and ferocity of the attack, and couldn't entirely block the blade. However, the gauntlets of his armour proved to be strong enough. A large gash appeared on his gauntlet and on his breastplate.

Darkstorm chuckled, a little surprised. "You hit me!"

The enraged archangel didn't banter. He swung the flaming sword in a direct overhead arc which was probably meant to split Darkstorm into two equal halves, but the latter skillfully avoided it, using a minimal amount of footwork, since they were in a tight space.

Bianca reckoned that the entire Labyrinth must have shook from the force of Lucifer's swing. Only the magic of the Labyrinth kept the tunnel from collapsing upon itself.

For a second, it looked like Darkstorm was going to elbow the archangel, but his fingers instead wrapped around the hilt of his sword which was attached to the belt of his armour.

The archangel only had a millionth of a second to notice the action. His white wings flapped and he was thrown backwards. Darkstorm was thrown backwards as well from the sheer force.

In the process, Darkstorm severed a single feather from Lucifer's left wing.

The archangel winced a little. It clearly hurt.

Lucifer's eyes widened upon seeing the sword Darkstorm held. It was very long. It should have been a two handed greatsword which was almost as big as Darkstorm himself, but he seemed to have absolutely no problem holding it in one hand. The blade was shining even in the dim light of the Labyrinth. On the hilt of the sword was the crest of a dragon. The handle seemed to be made of the same material as the blade, but was wrapped in an intricate black and gold design, just like Darkstorm's cape.

The archangel was still shocked at the weapon pulled out. "Impossible!", he exclaimed. "T-That's impossible!"

Darkstorm smiled. "The sharpest blade to have ever been created. Made by the elder cyclopes and Hekatonkheires. Forged in elder-dragon fire and cooled in the waters of the River Styx. This is called _Dragonrend_!"

Lucifer's confidence of winning the fight wavered. "That sword.", he muttered, "is the sharpest in existence. It is even sharper than Micheal's blade or Frey's sword 'Sumarbrander'. By CHAOS! How did you get that?!"

Bianca went white. "T-The sharpest?"

Lucifer stared at the sword and then at Darkstorm. He moved cautiously. The archangel looked at Bianca. "If used correctly, it can even tear holes in reality itself. Wounds from this ... cannot be healed. That is why the Norse god of war Tyr has only one hand. Darkstorm cut it off. Now it makes sense."

With a shock, Lucifer turned to his left wing. "That means ... my feather."

Darkstorm smiled. "That is right, _angel_. Your precious wings won't grow back if I cut them off."

Lucifer's face turned into a deadly glare. "That means ... what happened to Raphael, that was YOU?!"

Darkstorm chuckled, and proudly stated his achievement. "Yes. The archangel Raphael was killed by me. I took your little brother and carved his wings out of his back. Then I extracted every drop of his power and left him a mortal. He should have died as of two billion years ago, am I right?"

The archangel's anger and outrage was evident. His eyes glowed a bright blue and the flaming sword's flames turned blue as well, an indication that it had grown hotter.

Nico and Bianca began sweating buckets and sprouting blisters as the heat of the blade's flames rose higher and higher. The outer part of the blade's flames rose to a temperature much hotter than the surface of a blue star.

Lucifer's eyes shined so bright that the entire tunnel in front of them was illuminated. " **YOU! YOU WILL SUFFER FOR THIS!** ", he roared.

Darkstorm's eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you doing?!", he hissed. "You will burn yourself at this rate!"

The archangel didn't stop. His power only rose further and further, until Bianca could see an actual aura around the archangel's body and wings, like a Super Saiyan. " **You should have run away while you had your chance, mortal. It is almost high noon.** "

Bianca's eyes widened when even Darkstorm, whom the titans feared looked nervous. He seemed to be backtracking inch by inch. The feather of Lucifer's left wing, which shouldn't be able to be healed, got healed. The torn feather flew up and reattached itself to his wings.

The archangel raised his left hand and pointed his index finger at Darkstorm. His eyes glowed a vibrant blue which shined like blue stars with equal intensity. From the wings of the archangel, Bianca could see veins of power leading all the way to his pointed index finger, which glowed brighter and brighter.

With a start, she realized what was happening. His power was being transferred to his index finger, which she guessed was to be released at Darkstorm in a massive blow.

Darkstorm glared at the archangel. "If you really are going to do that, let's do it elsewhere."

Before anyone could say anything, Darkstorm snapped his fingers, and suddenly they found themselves in a white room. It was completely and fully white, floor, walls and ceiling included.

The room was square shaped and Bianca could've sworn that it was at least five hundred square metres area wise. It was very large. Larger than most battle arenas.

Lucifer was so surprised, he had powered down slightly, but he quickly got it back up.

" **Such insolence, you think you can defeat me? I am Lucifer Morningstar, the strongest archangel. I have crushed pathetic mortals like you for millions of years! The place matters not. You will submit.** "

Darkstorm chuckled, evidently amused. "There it is. The archangel of pride. I will submit? ... Come at me, Morningstar. We shall see."

Around Darkstorm's head, the air rippled before his helmet appeared on it. Bianca's eyes widened. Didn't he throw it aside? How did it come here?

Darkstorm raised his head up again, and they couldn't see his face. Only a black shadow and two glowing red orbs which were his eyes. " **After I inevitably defeat you, I will carve your wings out and tear out your heart. And then, you will have my permission to die.** "

The archangel put a foot forward and suddenly dashed front. The floor cracked into pieces as the archangel used it to leap forward. His flaming sword swung in a deadly diagonal arc which he thought hit Darkstorm.

" **I told you mortal. You are no match for me.** "

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him. Darkstorm's voice. " **I told _you_ , that my victory is inevitable.**"

The archangel's eyes widened, and he looked behind to see Darkstorm's sword Dragonrend swinging towards his back. Mid air, he turned and held up his flaming sword and at the same time he twisted his body to do a backflip mid air.

BOOM!

The impact of the two weapons colliding sent Nico and Bianca hurtling towards the wall of the room. The demigods cracked the wall as they hit it and fell down. Bianca slowly stood up and helped her brother up. She looked up to see the archangel mid-flip.

That flip proved to be useful since Dragonrend mercilessly shattered Lucifer's flaming sword into many flaming pieces, leaving the archangel with only the hilt, which stopped burning.

Lucifer landed on his feet and then immediately jumped back again, landing on is free hand which he then used to do another backflip. Immediately the archangel jumped back, aiming to stay away from Dragonrend.

But Darkstorm dashed forward too, shattering the ground as he leaped. He swung Dragonrend in horizontal and vertical arcs, which sent enormous gusts of wind everywhere. Nico and Bianca were having trouble even standing straight. With every minute they fought, the room was getting more and more damaged.

Bianca was sure that if these two had fought in a city, that city would have been destroyed easily.

Lucifer, however, managed to avoid all of Darkstorm's attacks, although there were some close calls and quite a few missing feathers.

Suddenly, the archangel's wings grew sharp at the tips and the wings moved forward in front of the archangel, releasing several sharp arrow like feathers. However, Darkstorm was able to cut them all out mid-air. Dragonrend split them in halves.

" **Do you still think you are the best, archangel of pride?** "

Suddenly Darkstorm moved forward, and swung Dragonrend. This time, Lucifer couldn't evade, so the archangel blocked the blade with the hilt of his broken sword. Amazingly, it held.

" **I can tell,** ", Darkstorm said, " **that you won't be able to keep this up for long.** "

Lucifer's eyes narrowed. He jumped up, shattering the ground as he did. Nico and Bianca jumped to the sides to avoid the large crack that appeared.

Darkstorm bent his legs and leaped up. Mid air, the two of them engaged in battle. Darkstorm was surprised when the archangel's attacks were faster and stronger than before. In fact, they were steadily growing stronger.

Nico and Bianca couldn't even see their forms. All they saw were afterimages of them clashing their weapons against each other's weapons, then they seemed to disappear and reappear again. They were too fast for even a demigod of the big three to see their movements.

Lucifer successfully repelled another of Darkstorm's strikes, but then the latter dashed back and delivered another punishing blow, for which the archangel wasn't ready. The force of the blow staggered the archangel even when he had blocked it with the hilt of his sword.

Lucifer landed a hundred metres away, a little off balance. Darkstorm came at him again, but the archangel once again blocked his strike. Darkstorm jumped back and a wave of dark energy suddenly shot forward from the palm of his hand.

Eyes widening, Lucifer swung his broken weapon at the dark energy, infusing his weapon with his own energy as he did. The result was catastrophic as it collapsed several pieces of the ceiling and sent a shockwave which shattered several parts of the walls.

Nico and Bianca coughed out blood as the shockwave rammed into their gut and smashed them at the walls with the force of a nuclear bomb.

But the archangel made a mistake. His left was wide open now that he swung hard to counterattack the wave of dark energy. And Darkstorm capitalized on it. He swung Dragonrend in an upward arc so devastating that it sent shockwaves just by hitting the air molecules. Lucifer could not evade or block this.

Dragonrend, the universe's sharpest sword slashed a clean and deep cut on the archangel's body from hip to shoulder. Lucifer was thrown up at such a speed that the ceiling now completely collapsed when he impacted with it.

Darkstorm appeared above him and swung downward full force. The blow would have cleaved anyone else clean in half, but it still made a deep but on Lucifer's back. This blow sent the archangel hurtling down at enormous speeds.

Bianca shielded herself and Nico with shadows as the archangel plumetted down. The room shook so violently that neither of them were able to stand straight. Bianca's shadow barrier was annihilated by the shockwave and the both of them once again landed on their butts.

When the dust settled, Bianca gasped. The room more or less was fully gone, and all they could see was a vast emptiness of space. 'No ... it is space.', Bianca thought.

Literal space. They could see earth from there. It was big and blue. There were white stretches over the planet, which she knew were clouds. "B-But how?!", Bianca exclaimed.

Lucifer was floating in the vast emptiness, and Darkstorm was nowhere to be seen. But that wasn't the issue. Bianca was surprised she hadn't choked to death or imploded or something. They were in freaking space!

When she grabbed her brother and pushed herself off of the piece of the white block that used to be part of the room they were in, Bianca felt intense heat. It probably wasn't as much as Lucifer's sword, but still.

She and Nico slowly floated towards the archangel.

"Whoa!", Nico said.

"What?", Bianca replied. "Speak louder Nico."

Nico frowned. "I can't hear you."

Bianca was worried, but then slapped herself internally. Sound cannot be heard in space. She shook her head and focused on reaching towards the archangel who saved their lives.

She gasped when she saw him. Red blood oozed out of his body, and the zero gravity of space wasn't helping. But just as she reached out, he suddenly fell.

Bianca's eyes widened as she too suddenly felt a force tug down at her. "NO!", she screamed, and this time Nico could hear her. They were re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. The pain was not as much as she'd thought. She could feel the heat around her body and she was sweating buckets, but it felt like just a really really hot day.

Suddenly, she felt something grab her. The demigoddess gasped and turned around, only to see Darkstorm with his fist raised. His helmet was off, probably due to the force of the room exploding.

"NO!", Nico screamed, but it was too late.

BOOM!

Bianca gasped and spit out copious amounts of blood as Darkstorm's fist impacted her stomach with the force of an atom bomb. The impact sent the demigoddess falling down much faster than she should have.

"BIANCA!", Nico screamed as his sister vanished from view. He turned to Darkstorm. "YOU BASTARD!"

Darkstorm chuckled and smiled. "She's now travelling at hypersonic speeds to the ground. Your sister's going to be a red splotch when she impacts, doesn't matter if she lands on water either."

Darkstorm flicked his hand and Nico was thrown to the side.

"AAAAHHH!", the demigod screamed as he was thrown off balance and started to fall in a different direction. He had been staying horizontal so that his fall impact would be less, but clearly that wasn't working.

Darkstorm then noticed the falling body of the archangel. His eyes narrowed and he suddenly dashed forward, parting the clouds as he flew through them. Lucifer was barely conscious.

Nico's eyes widened as he saw what Darkstorm was doing. Darkstorm floated above the archangel, and then suddenly he shot down like a cannonball. He put two hands forward and let his fists impact the archangel's body with maximum force.

Just before the impact, the archangel used the last remnants of his energy to create a golden shield. Darkstorm shattered it. For a moment, Lucifer's body turned red due to the force of the punch. The blood vessels in his body nearly exploded, but they held.

BOOM!

Nico's ears bled when Darkstorm's fists impacted the archangel. The sound of the shockwave blasted his eardrums to smithereens and sent him hurtling back upwards for a few seconds before he began to fall once again.

The clouds dispersed and the very air turned into a boiling cauldron around the archangel as he turned into a flaming comet. There were continuous shockwaves emitted as his plumetting speeds reached above escape velocity.

His fall took less than a second, and the impact was devastating.

Below, in the city, people stood and stared into the sky as four meteors entered the sky. However, their joy was short lived as the meteors got closer and closer. Suddenly, there was a devastating sound which shattered glasses and windows. The people of Cape Town screamed and panicked.

The panic was short lived, as there was another devastating shockwave. It seemed like the very earth shook from the impact and the entirety of Cape Town was destroyed in an instant.

There was a spherical shockwave which expanded outwards after Lucifer impacted the ground. In an instant, the shockwave atomized anything it came into contact with, including all of the four million people living there.

The buildings and the infrastructure. The roads, the homes, the hospitals, the malls. Everything was destroyed without discrimination.

Nico gasped and coughed. Even if he was kilometres above, the dust cloud and debris still hit him. The demigod curled himself and braced for impact, even though he knew he was going to die.

"I'm sorry, Bianca.", he said. "I couldn't save you."

Compared to the loud explosion mere moments ago, Nico's impact with the ground was a joke. It was a dull thud as the demigod fell into the crater of Lucifer's impact.

Nico was sure he should've died, but gasped when he felt immense pains all over his body. "AAHH!", he shouted as his shoulders and legs were dislocated and broken.

The demigod lay there for a few minutes, which seemed like hours, simply moaning in pain.

" **Demigod!** ", a voice said.

The pain subsided for a moment. The voice then spoke in his head. ' **I can still make him retreat, Nico di Angelo. But I'll need your help.** '

"Anything!", Nico shouted.

Lucifer sighed. ' **I will need to use your body as a host.** '

Nico didn't really understand what that meant, but he didn't care. Darkstorm was barely ten feet away. "DO IT!", Nico shouted.

Lucifer's body went limp, and the wings off his back disappeared. Slowly but surely, the archangel turned into a bright ball of light.

Darkstorm's eyes narrowed. " **What is that supposed to achieve?** "

Without warning, the ball of light shot forward to Nico, entering his body through his mouth. The demigod felt an immense amount of pain as the archangel's essence spread throughout his body.

Nico started to glow brighter and his eyes turned bright blue from black.

" **A vessel? Really? You are only limiting your power, _angel_.** "

Nico, who was now possessed by Lucifer, smiled. "Am I?"

Darkstorm chuckled darkly. " **Nice bluff.** "

Lucifer's eyes glowed brighter. "Not quite.". He held his hand out and flames engulfed his palm. Slowly, a shape emerged from the flames. It was a straight sword, with a metal which looked and felt like mortal steel, but in truth it was much harder than that. The metal glowed silver.

Lucifer smirked. "My archangel blade. You could say it is my symbol of power. Let's see you try to break this."

Darkstorm took a step back and readied himself. He raised Dragonrend. " **DRACO!** ", he roared. A black beam of energy shot from his sword into the air.

For a moment, nothing happened, and Lucifer chuckled. "What was that supposed to do?"

After standing for a few moments and noticing that nothing was happening, Lucifer tentatively took a step forward. "Alright. Time to end this. You've fought well, Darkstorm, but you've forgotten a crucial thing."

Darkstorm chuckled. " **And what is that?** "

"It's high noon."

Darkstorm frowned and looked up. Indeed, Lucifer was right. The sun was in the exact centre of the sky at the very top. It was exactly twelve in the afternoon. He looked at Lucifer, and took one more step back. " **What is this? Why are your power levels rising?!** "

Lucifer smiled, and the metal sword in his hand started to heat up. Flames licked the edges of the blade. The air rippled and thunder rocked the skies as two shapes emerged from his back. His wings.

They were smaller than they were before, but somehow seemed much more dangerous this time. The feathers shone, and glinted in the sunlight. They were sharp like bristled spikes.

The archangel's hand tightened around his sword and his voice grew deeper. " **Have you forgotten my ability, Darkstorm? It rises along with the sun, and at high noon, not even the entire host of the heavens can defeat me!** "

Darkstorm merely stared at the archangel. "That is good. Because I am not them."

 **ROOOAR!**

Lucifer looked up in surprise. His eyes widened. "No way!"

It was a dragon. Not your run of the mill dragon like some guard or a mindless beast. This was an intelligent animal, and powerful as well. Blue flames exited it's nostrils as it breathed. When it landed, the dragon shook the ground, even though it was just as small as a small classroom.

Darkstorm walked up to the beast, and even petted it. " **Good boy.** "

' **ROAR!** '

The small dragon roared let loose a small amount of fire, melting the very ground itself. Nico was surprised at how menacing it sounded for it's size. And it seemed to be quick as well.

The archangel's eyes narrowed. "Do you think a silly beast like that can harm me?"

Darkstorm chuckled. " **Draco's flames forged Dragonrend. Meet it's maker.** "

Both beings stood there facing each other, but before they could charge each other, there was a sudden electrifying aura in the air. The air smelled of ozone and the skies rumbled, darkening to a greyish colour.

Out of thin air, there was suddenly a straight electrical current passing from the ground. Imagine a lightning bolt just before it struck the ground. Now imagine it stays there, morphing into the shape of a person.

Both beings turned to see someone unexpected standing there. But not surprising. This was his world after all. His world to rule. This particular god was no longer wearing a pinstripe suit. He had no beard either anymore. He was younger, in golden armour and clean shaven.

Zeus, the Lord of the Skies and arguably one of the strongest gods to exist. In his hand he held the deadliest weapon in the whole universe. The famed Master Bolt. It was bigger than it used to be and crackled with electricity. The god's eyes were pure blue. No iris or sclera. Just a pure electrifying blue.

He removed his helmet and wiped his white hair off his eyebrows. "It seems that an unwanted visitor has arrived."

Zeus's expression only showed anger. A destructive anger which he would unleash upon Darkstorm.

" **Darkstorm. It is time to die.** "

Lucifer smiled. This wasn't Zeus, the arrogant womanizer. This was the old Zeus, who was right up there with a fully powered up Michael in terms of raw power.

BOOM!

Lucifer was blown back by the shockwave of the blast from the Master Bolt.

'Holy Shit!', Nico exclaimed.

'Indeed', Lucifer replied mentally to the demigod. 'At full power, that weapon can shatter a planet to pieces in a single blast. It's happened before.'

When the dust settled, Darkstorm wasn't in his spot. Instead, there was pieces of black metal lying about. Draco the dragon had been blown to the side.

Zeus chuckled. " **I expected more from you, Darkstorm. Do you not intend to finish this? Or will you run away again?** "

The ground shook for a moment and the air whistled as a black blur suddenly sped forward.

But the god of thunder saw it coming. Suddenly, Zeus appeared elsewhere. Normally, Nico wouldn't have been able to see what was happening, but since Lucifer was possessing him, his body's resilience was raised to the power of an archangel. His senses and strength as well, so he was able to make out Zeus dashing to the side.

Darkstorm stood where Zeus had been moments ago, his fist outstretched.

Lucifer was taken aback at the damage Darkstorm had received. It was surprising for someone like him. His armour was tattered and his face was ... bleeding? The archangel distinctly remembered him to be stronger than that.

Lucifer frowned. "Let's help Zeus.", he said to Nico.

He charge forward at the wounded Darkstorm, hoping to take him by surprise, but the man suddenly twisted his body sideways and matrix dodged the sword swing. He tripped the archangel and sidestepped, moving away.

Darkstorm flicked his index finger at the air, and a wave of force slammed into the archangel.

BOOM!

Nico impacted against the ground with a rough slam. Just Nico. The demigod frowned when he noticed that he had control over his body once more. He looked to the side, and only saw a brief image of Lucifer lying face first on the ground before he too passed out.

Darkstorm turned to Zeus, cocking his head sideways. "Alright, King of the Gods, let's see you backing up that title.". His right hand reached behind his shoulder strap and ripped his broken armour off, leaving him shirtless.

Zeus chuckled deeply. " **You're not fooling anyone. You have clearly lost a lot of power throughout all these millions of years. Defeating you would be a joke.** "

"Yes, I haven't been using my full power, since it wasn't necessary ... until now."

Darkstorm took a deep breath and his eyes snapped open. They were no longer red. They were a dark purple, almost black. A dark purple symbol appeared on Darkstorm's right eye. It resembled a conch shell at first, but it turned out to be a bit different. Like a mark. The mark quickly spread and covered the right half of Darkstorm's face. It was in waves, and seemed to move around a little, indicating that it wasn't just a skin wrap.

Darkstorm's hand tightened around Dragonrend. The dark purple energy from his face extended onto his right hand and slowly extended until it reached the sword. The energy wrapped itself around the blade like an aura. At the same time, the purple markings covered his upper chest as well, making incomprehensible shapes, mostly a spiral that went inward.

" **Now that is more like it.** ", Zeus said.

BOOM!

Both beings suddenly shot at each other with full force. The ground below them shattered as they fought and the skies above them cleared of clouds by the sheer shockwaves of their blows.

Nearby cities felt large scale earthquakes of magnitudes of up to eight or nine on the Richter scale, whereas the whole continent felt the force of their blows.

.

.

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* * *

 **A/N:For those of you wondering, this version of Lucifer is completely different from the traditional myths or even DC's version. In my story, Lucifer was never even banished to Hell. He was always an archangel in heaven. I did this because if you want Lucifer to be the good guy, then god(Chaos) needs to be the bad guy, so here god never even banishes him. He does rebel though, I'll try writing a flashback of that.**

 **Once again, I'm making it clear that the gods and angels and other beings aren't powered by worship of mortals. Not all of them anyway.**

 **You guys must be curious about the gods destroying Krypton, right? Don't worry though, I haven't forgotten. I will write flashback sequences for that and the first titanomachy.**

 **Also, add mass genocide to Darkstorm's list of horrible acts. (Well I suppose he did kill all those demigods in Netherlands and Moscow, but this is totally different. Four million people lol.)**

 **I've been trying to find the best and unexpected way to introduce other pantheons properly, and I felt it would be best for them to literally just appear out of nowhere when a catastrophe happens.**

 **So please review. Remember, I can write better stuff only when you guys give your thoughts and point out the flaws or plot holes.**


	22. Spoiled Plans

**A/N: Okay. I'm really not happy. I give you guys a really big chapter (10000 words), with two EPIC fights, and all I get is one fucking review?! Seriously wtf guys! Come on! You know I need reviews to write chapters. It what helps me decide the do's and don'ts for the next chapter. I've told you guys so many fucking times that it doesn't fucking matter if you guys write positive or negative things. Just fucking write something at the bottom of this fucking page and fucking post it. How the fuck can you expect me to write new chapters if I see that no one is even interested in the fucking story?  
**

 **On a side note, I'd like to thank Ackner for reviewing. Thanks buddy, at least you gave an insightful review.**

 **Okay. Enough of my rant. Here's the next chapter. And you guys better fucking review. Or I swear to god I'll start killing characters like GRRM.**

* * *

 _Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _Darkstorm's hand tightened around Dragonrend. The dark purple energy from his face extended onto his right hand and slowly extended until it reached the sword. The energy wrapped itself around the blade like an aura. At the same time, the purple markings covered his upper chest as well, making incomprehensible shapes, mostly a spiral that went inward._

 _" **Now that is more like it.** ", Zeus said._

 _BOOM!_

 _Both beings suddenly shot at each other with full force. The ground below them shattered as they fought and the skies above them cleared of clouds by the sheer shockwaves of their blows._

 _Nearby cities felt large scale earthquakes of magnitudes of up to eight or nine on the Richter scale, whereas the whole continent felt the force of their blows._

* * *

( _With Luke And Annabeth_ )

"Cows?"

"Yes.", Luke said, exasperated.

"Legit sparkling red cows?"

"Yes."

"Oh ok. We must be at Geryon's ranch."

Luke frowned. "Wha? How do you even know that?"

"Luke, I can list a myriad of reasons but I will choose not to do so because you are a friend and we are wasting time."

Luke blinked. "Jeez. Fine. Let's go then."

The pair of them awkwardly trudged along the way, mostly Luke staring at her, which the demigoddess found irritating, but secretly was very happy about it. It was certainly more than what Perseus did, who only treated her like a sibling. She was still confused whether to get angry or not.

On the other hand, Luke Castellan only stared at the blonde demigoddess in slight fascination but more of pain as he thought he could never hope to get her. Why would he? The son of Hermes caught her multiple times staring at the hottest topic of the Aphrodite cabin. Perseus. Half the Camp's girls lusted after him and virtually every nymph and dryad wet themselves at his sight. Hell, the guy managed to get with Hecate, a freaking goddess.

It was safe to say Luke was jealous. Add to the fact that he was uber powerful and undefeatable in combat by even Ares, then yeah, it wasn't just Luke, but the whole Camp who was jealous. It wasn't as if Luke disliked him. But he did wish to be like him. He was everything Luke wanted to be.

But all of this was Luke thinking. By the time, the demigod managed to shut off his thoughts and focus, they had reached a peculiar place.

They had walked down a dirt path that seemed to go on forever. Heat shimmered off the ground. Insects buzzed in the trees and flies swarmed around them. Every so often they'd see a pen full of red cows or even stranger animals. Once they passed a corral where the fence was coated in asbestos. Inside, a herd of fire-breathing horses milled around. The hay in their feeding trough was on fire. The ground smoked around their feet, but the horses seemed tame enough.

"What are they for?" Luke asked Annabeth.

Annabeth frowned, as if she didn't like the answer herself. "These guys breed or 'raise' animals for lots of clients. Apollo, Diomedes and others."

"Like who?"

"I don't know, Luke."

Finally they came out of the woods. Perched on a hill above them was a big ranch house—all white stone and wood and big windows.

That's when they noticed the man on the porch.

The man on the porch had a normal head. His face was weathered and brown from years in the sun. He had a slick black hair and a black pencil moustache like villains have in old movies. He smiled evilly at the demigods. But that's where the normalness ended. Luke noticed his body…or bodies. He had three of them.

His neck connected to the middle chest like normal, but he had two more chests, one to either side, connected at the shoulders, with a few inches between. His left arm grew out of his left chest, and the same on the right, so he had two arms, but four armpits, if that makes any sense. The chests all connected into one enormous torso, with two regular but very beefy legs, and he wore the most oversized pair of Levis they'd ever seen. His chests each wore a different color Western shirt—green, yellow, red, like a stoplight.

Luke was taken aback. "Wow.", he exclaimed.

The man/monster seemed to be surprised. "Intriguing. I've met several demigods over the years, Luke Castellan, but none of them have quite reacted in such a way. For that reason alone, I will allow you to stay, that is until you explain yourselves for trespassing my ranch!"

Luke nudged Annabeth. "Say something."

The demigoddess rolled her eyes. "Well, mister Geryon, we just came here to- WHAT THE FUCK?!", Annabeth suddenly shouted. Her voice rose to pitches Luke hadn't ever heard. But when he looked at where she was looking, he was ninety nine percent sure he had the exact same reaction.

A ... thing came out of the glass doors and stepped onto the porch. You could tell even the three bodied man was uncomfortable with it's look.

Imagine the ugliest and most disgusting thing you could ever see. That wouldn't even be close to the monstrosity in front of them. When I say monstrosity, I don't mean big. Oh no. This one was barely the size of an infant, yet uglier than Hephaestus when he first fell off Olympus. Well actually that's being generous.

Each and every body part of the creature was disproportionate. One leg was too small, and the other was too big. Same went with the arms and fingers and toes. One eyes seemed to be swollen shut, whereas the other was widened permanently to the size of dinner plates. Despite being so small in size it's back was hunched and it's head tilted to one side. It's teeth were rotten yellow and it's tongue was white, making the demigoddess want to throw up.

It had no thick hair, but rather had small auburn strands here and there. But still, this doesn't sound so bad. Not so bad to be called the ugliest thing ever ... right?

Wrong. Blisters of all shapes and sizes covered nearly every inch of it's body, and some of them were burst, oozing out a paste like greenish substance. Add to the fact that around it's waist, a clown's belt dangling with bells was hanged, meaning it made a clanging sound every time it moved. It's nose looked wet with mucus, and it kept licking the mucus. 'Gross.', Luke thought.

"UMA!", the thing screamed. It's voice wasn't anything pretty either. Imagine the voice of a baby, but completely broken, like it had a sore throat. You wouldn't even come close to imagining the sound. Luke and Annabeth both visibly cringed as it shouted.

The man with three bodies suddenly seemed perfectly normal to Luke. The demigod turned his attention to him. "We were just passing by, that's all. Good day."

The demigod wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

But the owner of the ranch had other plans. "Actually, now that you have trespassed ... I have other ideas. You will help me."

"... Fine."

"Excellent!"

Pretty soon, Luke and Annabeth were roped into a tour of the whole place ... which wasn't too bad actually.

"We have a huge operation!" Geryon boasted as the moo-mobile lurched forward. "Horses and cattle mostly, but all sorts of exotic varieties, too."

They came over a hill, and Annabeth gasped. "Hippalektryons? I thought they were extinct!"

At the bottom of the hill was a fenced-in pasture with a dozen hybrids. Each had the front half of a horse and the back half of a rooster. Their rear feet were huge yellow claws. They had feathery tails and red wings.

"Rooster horses," Luke said in amazement. "Do they lay eggs?"

"Once a year!" Geryon grinned in the rearview mirror. "Very much in demand for omelettes!"

"That's horrible!" Annabeth said. "They must be an endangered species!"

Geryon waved his hand. "Gold is gold, darling. And you haven't tasted the omelettes."

"That's not right," Luke murmured, but Geryon just kept narrating the tour. The ugly thing Luke had seen earlier was seated in the back of the moo-mobile. It made a gurgled sound at Luke's statement, which surprised him. The thing could understand something?

Geryon didn't seem to notice. "Now, over here," he said, "we have our fire-breathing horses, which you may have seen on your way in. They're bred for war, naturally."

"What war?" Luke asked.

Geryon grinned slyly. "Oh, whichever one comes along. And over yonder, of course, are our prize red cows."

Sure enough, hundreds of the cherry-colored cattle were grazing the side of the hill.

"Apollo's cows!", Annabeth exclaimed. "You stole them?!"

Geryon frowned at the statement. "Stole? Please, I was the one who bred them! That sun god! He bought them from me, not the other way around."

"But there are so many.", Annabeth muttered, and Luke agreed. There were literally hundreds of those cows, no exaggeration. Who the hell needs so many?

"Yes, well, Apollo is too busy to see them," Geryon explained, "so he subcontracts to us. We breed them vigorously because there's such a demand."

"For what?" Luke asked.

Geryon raised an eyebrow. "Meat, of course! Armies have to eat."

"You kill the sacred cows of the sun god for hamburger meat?" Luke said. "That's the against ancient laws!"

"Oh, don't get so worked up, demigod. They're just animals."

"Just animals?!"

"Yes, and if Apollo cared, I'm sure he would tell us."

"If he knew," Annabeth muttered.

The next field was ringed in barbed wire. The whole area was crawling with giant scorpions.

"Triple G Ranch," Luke said, suddenly remembering. "Your mark was on the crates at camp. Pieter got his scorpions from you."

"Pieter …" Geryon mused. "Silver hair, red eyes, slightly insane?"

"Yeah ...", Luke trailed, not sure what Geryon was getting at with the slightly insane part.

"Never heard of him," Geryon said. "Now, over here are my prize stables! You must see them."

Near the banks of a green river was a horse corral the size of a football field. Stables lined one side of it. About a hundred horses were milling around in the muck—and when I say muck, I mean horse poop. It was the most disgusting thing Luke had seen, except for the thing in the backseat perhaps. It was like a poop blizzard had come through and dumped four feet of the stuff overnight. The horses were really gross from wading through it, and the stables were just as bad. It reeked like you would not believe—worse than garbage boats.

Even the ugly thing in the backseat cried out "UMA!".

Through the ride, Annabeth learned a few interesting things about the creature. Firstly, all it knew to say was the word 'UMA'. Nothing else. Not any other syllable or word. It's reaction to everything was the same, leading the demigoddess to believe that it was a programmed individual. She became curious. For that, and also because the creature emanated power whenever it screamed. Not like a powerful aura of power, but like a leaking faucet that dripped every time it opened it's mouth.

"Fucking disgusting.", Luke muttered, cringing at the sight of the shit covered horses.

"Why would you even keep these?", Annabeth asked, her hand covering her nose and mouth.

Geryon didn't seem to be very bothered with the smell. "My clients pay me well for these. Who doesn't need flesh eating horses in times of war?"

Suddenly, Annabeth straightened up. "These clients ..., you work for Kronos, don't you? You supply him with food and monsters for his armies!"

Geryon laughed. "I work for no one, dear. I sell my goods to whoever pays me. I'm a businessman!", he exclaimed.

"Someone paid you.", Annabeth guessed.

"What's that?"

"Someone paid you to give us safe passage through the ranch. It's why none of your monsters have attacked, isn't it?"

Geryon laughed heartily, which looked weird with all his three chest heaving. "Very good, dear. very good. You've lived up to your parentage it seems. You really are a daughter of Athena ... Just one thing you thought wrong. I do need to give you safe passage, but after that?"

Luke's eyes widened as Geryon's body turned. His mind worked faster than usual, and the demigod could see Geryon's hand whipping towards Annabeth in slow motion. The air rippled around the monster's fist as it was about to make contact with Annabeth's face.

The stunned daughter of Athena could do nothing but sit there and watch as Geryon's fist came at her face. She was simply too slow. But before the fist hit her, she felt a force on her right shoulder. She gasped as Luke appeared in the backseat. Later she would wonder how he managed to get there so quickly.

Luke's push sent Annabeth tumbling out of the jeep and he himself casually dodged the fist. It was slow even for a monster. He watched as Geryon's fist missed him by a few inches, moving at a snail's pace to him. Luke stretched his palm out at Geryon's wrist. The demigod watched in sick fascination as the monster's wrist slowly began forming tears. He could see the bones inside crack. Luke then leaped out of the jeep, landing next to Annabeth. As he impacted the ground, time seemed to return to it's normal speed for him.

Geryon roared in pain as his entire wrist fractured in several places at once. His feet had hit the brakes and the jeep tilted forward, crashing down upon him. The last thing Luke saw of him was the backseat getting lodged inside his pants, which Luke had no idea how it happened.

To the side, he saw the ugly creature that kept yelling "UMA!", at the top of it's voice.

Deciding to ignore it, he picked up Annabeth and was about to speed out of the area when the blonde demigoddess shook her head. "That thing. We need to take it with us!", she exclaimed.

Luke cringed thinking about it. "Really?! Why?!"

"Something is off about it. I don't know. I-I think it could be someone trapped like that. A curse maybe." Annabeth insisted.

Luke shook his head. "Nope. Not gonna happen. Ugly stays here."

But Annabeth was stubborn. "I will take it if you won't.", she said.

Luke sighed. "Alright. I'll take it.", he relented. For some reason, he didn't want the ugly creature's skin to touch Annabeth's skin. It felt so wrong for such a beautiful girl like her to hold something like ... that. Or at least, that's what Luke thought.

Just as Geryon managed to dislodge the rear seat from his backside and kick the jeep away, Luke grabbed the creature by it's arm and hoisted Annabeth above his other shoulder and took off.

The three bodied monster roared in anger, finding that the demigods were gone. He stared at the spot where the ugly creature was supposed to be. But it wasn't. His three hearts sank at once. "No.", he whispered in fear. "Darkstorm is going to kill me."

* * *

( _Ruins of Cape Town, South Africa_ )

The Lord of the Skies dropped to his knees. Golden Ichor flowed out of his gut as freely as a waterfall.

Darkstorm himself had several deep wounds on his wounds, but the dark purple energy on his body spread onto the wounds, and when his skin was revealed again, his wounds were gone. Darkstorm took a deep breath, relishing the fresh air, before he looked at the sky god.

Before anyone could make a move, Darkstorm already reached Zeus and lifted the god by his throat. "That was a very close one, Zeus. Too close for my taste. You have definitely gotten stronger after starting to rule Olympus.". With that being said, he squeezed further, crushing the god's windpipe.

Zeus's eyes widened as he choked on the ichor coming out of his mouth.

However, an unexpected thing happened. Twin beams of golden energy struck the unarmoured and weaponless Darkstorm, who was too busy torturing Zeus to even look behind him.

There were a few beings. Powerful beings.

Darkstorm dropped the sky god and fell to the ground in a heap, with his back smoking like a bubbling lake. He groaned and turned around, to see a familiar Olympian. Poseidon, Lord of the Seas. However, with him were two other beings you wouldn't expect to see.

One was an archangel with wings even larger than Lucifer's. His very aura demanded respect and he oozed power. He held a flaming sword, not unlike the one Lucifer held, but this was more special. The sword that could cut through anything. This was none other than Michael Demiurgos, the eldest and most powerful archangel, as powerful as Zeus himself.

The archangel flapped his wings and he disappeared. No. Not disappeared. He moved. Moved so quickly that none could see him. He grabbed Dragonrend by it's hilt.

Darkstorm groaned as he squinted at the beings. Then he saw the sword. He growled and launched himself forward, but Michael sidestepped. The archangel's eyes stared at the blade coolly, before he looked up at Darkstorm. "Enough.", he said. "This blade is not as sharp as you claim. At least, not anymore. As I speak, Lord Odin has undone the magical enhancements on this blade."

The archangel looked at the being who arrived with him. "Lord Odin. If you would see to Lord Zeus. Lord Poseidon and I will handle this."

The sea god's eyes glowed emerald green and a sea green aura appeared around him. In his hand appeared his trusty trident. He spun the trident before aiming it at Darkstorm. "You have made a grave error, time traveller. When we're done with you, you will wish you had never dared to cross the time stream."

Darkstorm, meanwhile, had managed to gather himself. He looked at the archangel and at Poseidon. "I don't need that sword to destroy you both ... "

The gods and the archangel frowned. But then the sky started to darken. The clouds pulled themselves together and slowly, there was the sound of a low rumble. Thunder. It was not Zeus, because said god was injured. And it wasn't Darkstorm either. Michael frowned and raised his sword up, aiming it at the circular spinning funnel of air, which sparked blue with lightning.

Before the archangel could do anything, a large bolt of lightning struck him. Poseidon's eyes widened, and he raised a barrier of water around him. That was no regular lightning. It moved too fast for it to be natural lightning.

When the dust settled, the sea god was shocked. The archangel lay on the ground, writhing in pain while electricity attacked him from all sides. Suddenly the electricity shot beside Darkstorm and slowly formed itself into a shape. The shape of a person. The sea god watched with morbid fascination as an armoured figure in black appeared.

The figure was covered head to toe in heavy metallic black armour. His breastplate had black rungs covering over. With a start, Poseidon realized it was the shape of a ribcage. The figure had a helmet on, which covered his entire face, literally. How he saw through that was beyond Poseidon. " **Hello, sea god.** ", he said. His voice, unlike Darkstorm's did not sound demonic. It sounded deep and it echoed, but that was it. Like as if he spoke into a mic.

Poseidon frowned. "What?! Who are you?!"

Darkstorm got to his feet, smirking. "This is Ira, my lieutenant.".

Ira stepped front, and it was then that Poseidon noticed the huge double handed mace carried by Ira. It was the same colour and material as the armour, but much heavier. The air condensed as he swung the mace at the sea god.

With a deft movement, Poseidon leaned forward and brought up his trident to block the blow. A shockwave blasted apart the wind and cracks appeared on the ground. But Poseidon didn't move. The sea god pressed forward, and eventually pushed back with such a force that his opponent didn't have a choice but to backtrack.

"That's enough, Ira. I did not summon you to battle.", Darkstorm said. His voice was loud, and firm. The latter didn't say a word, but obliged and stepped towards his master, helping him up.

Poseidon frowned, but didn't make any move to attack. He too had someone to look after. He looked to the side to see Michael's scarred body healing itself. The sea god pointed his trident at the archangel, and a light green beam shot out of it, covering the target in a protective cocoon. As he did, there was a flash of light, and a sparkling sound, like electricity. Ira vanished with Darkstorm.

The sea god reached down and helped the archangel up. "Are you alright?", he asked.

The archangel coughed a little and shook his head. "I'm fine. Where is Darkstorm?"

"He got away.", Zeus growled. He appeared to be fully healed and he stood beside the being who healed him. The being wore a Viking tunic and had a white beard. Two pitch black ravens sat on his shoulders. And he oozed power. More so than the other beings present.

"We should get back to Asgard. Ra, Indra and the others have already arrived and are waiting ... and Zeus?"

"Yes?", the sky god asked, frowning.

The man with the ravens frowned, as if listening to something. "It appears your children have somehow found their way to Asgard."

For once, the Lord of the Skies was genuinely surprised. His eyebrows raised and his head cocked back. "What? They don't even know it exists! How?

"Speaking of which, what do with this one?"

The four beings turned their attention to Nico di Angelo, who was sitting beside Lucifer's fallen body staring at the beings with a shocked expression. Not being able to comprehend what was happening, the young boy's vision darkened as he promptly hit the ground with a thud, passing out.

"Oh dear me.", Michael chuckled. "This one has a weak mind, no?"

Zeus and Poseidon chuckled as well, causing the man with the ravens to frown a little. "He is a young child."

Poseidon stopped, but kept smiling. "Anyway, ... ", he snapped his fingers, and the air condensed, before a pop sound emerged and a girl fell to the ground, groaning as she impacted the rough sand and debris.

Zeus frowned. "Wait. Isn't she Hades's daughter?"

"Yes.", the sea god replied. "While we were travelling here, I saw her hit the water, falling from high above. So I ordered some nymphs to take care of her for the time being. She's fine now, although exhausted."

The girl rubbed her head and sat straight, only to come face to face with four powerful beings. Her eyes widened and she scrambled back, before noticing that they just stood there doing nothing.

Poseidon looked at Zeus questioningly. "Now what did you do? The nymphs said she was fine."

The sky god stared at his brother with a deadpanned expression. "Really Poseidon? Can't think of a better time or place to crack jokes?"

The sea god shook his head. "No."

The man with the ravens cleared his throat. "Gentlemen. As I said, Asgard awaits. Also, being those Lucifer and those two."

Poseidon sighed. "Interfering with quests like this isn't something I endorse ... but the universe is at stake."

With that being said, the man with the ravens clapped his hands together, creating a sound that reverberated miles on end. Immediately, they all disappeared, Lucifer, Nico and Bianca included.

* * *

( _Unknown Location_ )

An armoured figure stood facing a wall, holding a staff with a tip made of a glowing blue sphere. The staff released a blue spark every so often, a telltale sign that the being holding the staff was performing some sort of magic. His armour resembled that of the riders of the Wild Hunt, but his helmet was different. This was Nox, Darkstorm's right hand.

A sound like a dull throb pulsated for less than a second. Nox didn't even look back. He knew it was a portal.

A blue circle with black streaks appeared in the middle of the large hall, and a being similar to Nox stepped out, although his helm was much different, and he had a two handed mace in his left hand. A silver haired figure was on his shoulder, whom he lowered gently onto the ground.

Nox frowned at Darkstorm from under his helm. The helm disappeared so that the silver haired figure could see Nox's face clearly when he frowned. "You are taking too many risks. They could have killed you this time.", Nox muttered.

Darkstorm sighed deeply, and helped himself up onto a comfortable chair. He ripped off a part of his gauntlet that was still stuck onto his wrist. He stared at it for a moment before tossing it aside like the previous day's rubbish. "You know they can't."

Nox frowned. "Your ability to absorb energies from deities isn't working as well as it should be. Now there is a limit to how much power you can take."

Ira, Darkstorm's left hand had been silent so far, but he decided to add in his own input. Removing his helm, he cracked his neck. He smirked remembering the wounded Lucifer on the ground. "Well, Lord Pe-"

Darkstorm's eyes glowed red as he glared at Ira, daring him to finish his real name. " **Don't.** ", he warned, his voice going into a demonic tone as he murderously glared at his lieutenant.

Ira gulped. "I-I mean, our Lord did cripple the archangel Lucifer. That prideful fool will die soon. He was cut by Dragonrend."

Nox frowned further. " _Dragonrend._ I have been meaning to ask you, why can't I feel it's presence."

Darkstorm had a stormy look in his eyes, like as if he either wanted to read a book or he wanted to brutally murder someone. It was hard to tell with someone like him. Either one would please him for the moment.

Darkstorm looked at Nox. "Odin. He arrived and depowered the sword."

Nox's eyes slightly widened. "Odin? ... That's ... unexpected. Why?"

Darkstorm stood up, pacing around. He was unsettled and angry. With a yell, he kicked chair, shattering it into pieces and sending the pieces flying towards the wall. "The plans went to shit!", he growled. "First, that pesky archangel interfered. He should not have even known to find me there! And then, our fight draws the attention of Zeus. And I assume Poseidon must have noticed as well."

Nox frowned. "I see ... well, if it is any consolation, the demigods have received our message, and I have set Perseus on the destination you wished him to travel to. He does not even realize it, but he is climbing the Yggdrasil as we speak. Soon, he will reach Nidavellir. But why?"

Darkstorm chuckled. "Krios informed me that one of the constellations is missing from his domain. The constellation that until recently was Zoe Nightshade. I don't have a shred of doubt that Zeus or possibly Odin have taken her out. She cannot go back to Artemis since she is technically not alive. So her soul must be bound to some object. The only object I can think of which her soul would be bound to is Anaklusmos. And if Zeus or Odin have any sense, they would have slipped it to Perseus. His heritage would work well with a blade infused with the power of a sea nymph."

Nox nodded. "But why Nidavellir? Why not here? It's safer and farther away from Earth."

Darkstorm sighed. "Good question. We need outposts now. Nidavellir has a fortress that even titans cannot breach. It's walls are many miles thick and even longer. It is layered with ancient dwarvish magic for millions of years now. It's the perfect offensive base for us. And it is very near Earth. We can move our armies there. Then, we can think of launching a proper assault."

"What about the monsters?", Nox asked. "I thought you had a deal with Kronos?"

"I still do.", Darkstorm said. "But one can never be too sure. It's always better to be prepared. Remember that the titans are not our allies in truth. Once I have dealt with Zeus and the others, I'll tend to Kronos as well. But not both at once. For now, we focus our efforts on the gods. For that, we need to first cut off that camp. Then, we assault Olympus."

Nox sighed. "Darkstorm. Are you still sure about all this? I mean, we don't have the numbers to do it. We could always do the backup plan."

Darkstorm glared at his lieutenant. "We are not doing that. That is final. And don't worry about the numbers. Just get my armour ready. I have a different plan. I'll tell you once our business on Nidavellir is finished."

* * *

( _The Labyrinth_ )

Percy swore. "FUCK!", he shouted in anger as he stabbed one of his Celestial Bronze blades into the wall of the Labyrinth. The gravity pulling him down was increasing, and he could barely climb. It was like he was a mortal trying to climb up the side of a cliff with nothing but blades. Adding to that was the fact that the gravity pull he felt was way stronger than he was used to. It took all he had not to let go.

As he climbed, for some reason, he started to remember a memory. A rather old one. It was nothing important.

FLASHBACK

 _Perseus stood in the middle of a training ground. The floor was completely covered with sand, letting his toes a little in as he stood there. It was a nice and refreshing feeling, to be able to stand on sand. Although Perseus supposed that he felt that way since it was part of his father's area. Beaches are made up of sand of course._

 _He stared at the target in front of him. Nothing very interesting about the target, just a circular board made of Celestial Bronze. He was looking at it. A girl of about sixteen stood beside it, painting the circular target with white and black paint. She was slim but agile, and in a matter of minutes, the target was fully painted. Black and white circular rings and a red dot smack in the middle of it._

 _Beside him was a young man with golden hair and light blue eyes and a face that would make any girl wet with pleasure. Some boys and men as well. He held a golden bow in his left hand and stood in a straight gait. He held the bow up and slowly drew an arrow from his quiver. He placed it on the bowstring and pulled. Aiming his bow at the target, he let loose._

 _The arrow flew forward at incredible speeds, and before Percy could even see what happened, the arrow landed smack in the middle of the red dot. It was not even a nanometre off it's target. The golden haired man looked at Perseus. "Now you try, Percy.", he said, handing the bow to him. The man held his hand up, and the arrow that was lodged itself against the target flew back to his palm. He gave the arrow to Percy._

 _Perseus stared at the man hesitantly. "Alright Apollo, but I'm warning you. This isn't going to work. Archery just isn't my forte."_

 _The god sighed. "You need to try, Percy. Besides, ", he smirked. "Someone's watching."_

 _Percy turned to the side, looking at the girl earlier who had painted the target. She was beautiful. Very much so. Auburn hair and yellow eyes that would sometimes change to silver. Her face shined gold as she stared at Percy, waiting for him to shoot the arrow. A silvery aura surrounded her as she stood impatiently._

 _Percy turned back to Apollo, his face red. "Damn it Apollo!", he swore softly. "Why'd you bring her to see? I'll be lucky if this thing goes in the right direction."_

 _The sun god smirked. "It will go. Trust me."_

 _Percy sighed. "You can't guide the arrow like at Troy. Artemis will know. She's standing right there, of course she'll know!"_

 _Apollo's smirk grew wider. "Oh, dear cousin. I have complete faith in you."_

 _Percy sighed again, and aimed the bow at the target._

 _Apollo noticed his stance and the way he held the bow. The sun god grimaced but did nothing. "At least, I have faith in you for everything but this.", he muttered silently._

 _The sun god was proven right when Percy let loose the arrow. Apollo knew it would miss before he even saw it leave the bow. The arrow sailed above, completely missing the target, and landing directly between Artemis's feet._

 _Apollo couldn't help it. He cracked up. Big time. The great sun god fell to the floor, laughing like he never had, like as if someone had told him the biggest joke in the world. Well, he had just seen the biggest joke in the world, which was of course Percy using a bow._

 _The auburn haired goddess cracked a smile before she too laughed, and Percy couldn't help but feel annoyed and embarrassed at the same time. Artemis was laughing at him. His face turned red with shame, before the goddess noticed the look on his face. Slowly ceasing her fits of laughter, she went to the demigod. Percy straightened up immediately._

 _She smiled at him. "Apollo told me you were bad. But never did I think you'd be this bad!"_

 _Percy scratched his head. "Well, you see now."_

 _A mental voice, which Percy knew was Apollo, entered his mind and spoke. 'Cuz, did you really want to get hooked up with Arty like that?! Brilliant first impression mate!'_

 _Percy turned to Apollo and scowled at him, both for telling Artemis about his archery condition and for that comment. The sun god raised his arms in mock defeat. "Alright Alright. So I told her. But dude, you really suck at this, but maybe lil' sis can help?"_

 _Artemis scowled at her brother. "I'm older.". Then she turned to Percy and sighed. "First, hold your bow properly.", she ordered._

 _The demigod held his bow straight, and pulled the string back._

 _Artemis sighed, looking at the stance. "This is going to take a while.", she muttered._

FLASHBACK END

Artemis. He really did miss her. He might be with Hecate now, but Artemis was his first crush. She'd always hold a special place in his heart. And she was also one of the best goddesses he knew, and it hurt to know she was out there alone and powerless. He swore he would murder Darkstorm in the most brutal way possible if he touched her.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he finally reached the top, or so he thought it was. He found a hole in the wall, and he crawled through it. He would've been surprised, landing on grass, but the demigod didn't care. The climb was so exhausting that he passed out as soon as he was sure he was safe.

Two midget like people approached his unconscious body. They were short and thick bearded. And they held large hammers of unnatural sizes in their hands. They stared at each other and looked at Percy again.

"Is it him?", one of the dwarves asked.

"Aye. It is. Come, better get him to the White One before he gets angry."

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Camp Half-Blood was ... not very calm. At all. Jason and Achilles were to arrive soon, but something else had arrived. Some news. More like a video recording.

Chiron was not present at the dining pavilion, so it was being played through the projector belonging to the Athena cabin. Malcolm, the current head of the Athena cabin (until Annabeth returned), stood at the side of the projector, ready to press a button.

"Now, everyone. We don't know why this has been sent to us, nor who sent it. There's no sound, but ... it's not really needed."

Saying that, Malcolm hit the play button on the remote he held.

The video started, and it was a bit shaky at first, as if someone held it while running, but it stopped later.

The Campers were surprised with what they saw.

Perseus _floated_. He was floating mid-air without a shirt, which of course caused some ... natural reaction from some demigods, particularly the Aphrodite cabin, who screamed in pleasure. Malcolm looked at them with a frown, telling them to shut up.

Next, they saw something odder. Five gods appeared there. They couldn't see all, but they did recognize Ares, Hermes, Apollo and Artemis. The Athena kids of course knew the other was their mother, who didn't normally appear in the Camp, hence nobody here knew what she looked like.

They saw a black haired goddess say something to Perseus, and for a while, nothing happened. The other gods in the video looked at each other and looked back at Percy, but he didn't seem to respond to them. The demigods frowned. What was he doing?

Then, the god with full plated black armour stepped forward. Everyone knew this was Ares. To the demigods' shock, Perseus merely raised his hand and a green beam of intense energy shot out of it, striking the war god. The camera shook a little as the cameraman stepped back a dozen of steps. When the camera stopped shaking, the beam stopped and Ares was down, his armour steaming.

"YEAH!", an Apollo kid cheered, making everyone else look at him.

Malcolm sneered at the Apollo kid. "Don't be so happy yet."

The demigods watched in shock as Perseus single handedly and effortlessly manhandled and obliterated five Olympians at once. The actual recorded time the battle took place was barely for a minute, but that was only because the gods and Perseus were moving faster than the camera could catch them.

Obviously and naturally, this caused an uproar, particularly and especially from the Hunters of Artemis.

A of the roman demigods raised their hands. "How does this even matter? Are you all forgetting Perseus saved us? He came to the aid of New Rome when not even the gods did. How can you say with proof this is not fabricated? It certainly can be."

"It's not.", a voice said.

Everyone looked to the side, to see the most unexpected people. Two gods and two demigods. Hermes, in his trademark business suit, and Apollo, with a pair of headphones around his neck. Neither was smiling.

The demigods were none other than the legends Jason and Achilles.

"What do you mean?", the roman asked.

Hermes frowned at the projector, which was still replaying the footage. Suddenly the projector exploded.

The demigods jumped in their seats but did nothing. Hermes hadn't even moved, but Apollo knew better. It only looked like he hadn't moved. But this was the god of speed. He did move. Only that nobody, including Apollo could see the movement.

Achilles however, was imbued with the curse of the Styx, and as such had enhanced reflexes and strength far greater than any demigods and most gods as well. He could see him. Though not very clearly. All he saw was a blur as the god of speed dashed forward and back.

'Damn.', Achilles thought. 'Percy wasn't kidding. This guy is really quick.'

In Hermes's hand was the disc. "First of all.", he started. "Where did you get this?". The god's tone made it clear he wasn't screwing around. He wanted answers. And he wanted it quick.

Malcolm spoke. "We got it from an anonymous source, Lord Hermes.", he said politely, not wishing to anger the already irate god.

Apollo stepped forward, taking the disc from Hermes. He stared at it, and twin beams of fiery yellow sunlight erupted from his eyes and incinerated the disc, and when it was over, not even ashes remained.

"In any case," Apollo said. "this disc or it's contents are of no importance. What you've seen will be kept to yourselves, yes?"

The demigods nodded fearfully.

"Wonderful.", the sun god exclaimed, switching back to his regular sunny personality. "Now as for why we came, well, it was to drop these two off. Till the foreseeable future, Jason and Achilles will be _tutoring_ you. They will also help Chiron as co-directors as Dionysus won't be around for a while. Any questions?"

Without waiting for a reply, Apollo smiled. "No? Good.", he said.

The demigods instinctively looked away as the two gods erupted into their immortal forms and vanished from the spot.

Jason, who stood silent till then, chuckled a little. "Gods. Kinda over-exaggerate the flashiness, don't you think?"

Achilles sighed, staring at the campers. "Get back to your activities. And report for training at four. If I find anyone missing, I'll personally make sure they get the worst training.". The campers gulped and scurried off. Sometimes, they forgot Achilles was not just a demigod, but a soldier as well. So he was an _extremely_ harsh teacher and a harsher instructor. No one wanted to get on his bad side.

Chiron stared at Achilles and stared at the campers. "They will be begging me to teach them after this.", he muttered, a little smile on his face.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh hi reader, I see you've finished reading the chapter. Now, there's something I need you to do. You see, there's a little box at the bottom of the page which asks you to type your review in. Do you know what I want you to do? ... TYPE IT! But seriously, please review. It doesn't feel good when you put in so much time and effort to see almost zero result. Like I said, whether you liked it or not, just give your thoughts and sincere opinions.**

 **Good day!**


	23. Achilles: Drill Seargant

**A/N: Hey guys, I must apologize. It was a bit out of line for me to insult you guys for not reviewing. It's fine if you really don't wanna, but please do. Until I started writing stories, I never reviewed other people's works. But now that I know the importance, I review every time. Yeah, so sorry about that rant in the last chapter.**

 **As an apology, here's the next chapter. I squeezed in time for you guys.**

 **Anyway, this chapter is a bit smaller, but that's because the plotline on Asgard wasn't done yet, so I moved it to the next chapter. So you can bet your ass the next chapter is gonna be longer than usual. Maybe not 10K words, but still long.**

 **ALSO IMPORTANT. I CHANGED THE TITLE OF THE STORY AND THE SUMMARY AS WELL!**

* * *

 _Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _Without waiting for a reply, Apollo smiled. "No? Good.", he said._

 _The demigods instinctively looked away as the two gods erupted into their immortal forms and vanished from the spot._

 _Jason, who stood silent till then, chuckled a little. "Gods. Kinda over-exaggerate the flashiness, don't you think?"_

 _Achilles sighed, staring at the campers. "Get back to your activities. And report for training at four. If I find anyone missing, I'll personally make sure they get the worst training.". The campers gulped and scurried off. Sometimes, they forgot Achilles was not just a demigod, but a soldier as well. So he was an extremely harsh teacher and a harsher instructor. No one wanted to get on his bad side._

 _Chiron stared at Achilles and stared at the campers. "They will be begging me to teach them after this.", he muttered, a little smile on his face._

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Training with Achilles and Jason was ... harsh. Very harsh.

They pushed the campers even more than the last six months. Chiron wasn't usually one willing to turn Camp Half-Blood into a military school, but he had no choice. Camp Half-Blood could soon be under attack via the Labyrinth and since they couldn't close the Labyrinth, something else had to be done. The demigods needed to prepare. They had to get ready for whatever may come from the Labyrinth.

The centaur watched from the elevated platform above the training grounds. The usual training area wasn't enough, so Achilles and Jason decided to turn the amphitheatre into their own personal torture chamber- ahem, training area. The invulnerable demigod had taken it upon himself to personally demolish the stands to provide more room, much to the dismay of the campers.

Right now, the son of Thetis was instructing them in the art of swordplay, of which only Achilles and Perseus were the best at. The competition was almost laughable, and Achilles didn't like that. He didn't like the fact that the demigods were so unskilled. Against common monsters they could hold their own, but Achilles and Jason were in another league, and the two legendary demigods worked tirelessly to bridge that gap. It is every teacher's dream to make the student even better than them.

They were standing in a line. Almost thirty demigods. These were the handpicked few that were to be taught swordplay. The other demigods were to be instructed by Jason, who was proficient in most other types of weaponry.

Achilles stared hard at him, and they knew what was to come. HE was absolutely ruthless in his teachings and his words cut like a hot knife through butter. He cursed a lot. A lot. More than anyone you could ever imagine. And he had zero mercy and absolutely enjoyed roasting failures.

Achilles took a deep breath, and the demigods internally cringed.

"Here it comes.", someone whispered.

"I asked Chiron to give me a shit load of badasses and pillage-hungry murder machines, but instead all got was you cup cake cack clowns and a side order of FUCK NUGGETS!"

One of the demigods, a son of Mars stepped forward, before being pulled back. There was anger evident in his eyes.

Achilles continued in a much louder voice. "I CAN TELL AT A GLANCE THAT AT LEAST FIFTY PERCENT OF YOU ARE COCK-SUCKERS AND THE OTHER FIFTY PERCENT OF YOU ARE COCK-SUCKERS WHO'VE NEVER BEEN TOLD TO BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES. I'M GONNA SHOVE MY BOOTS SO FAR, AND FAST UP YOUR ASSHOLES IT'LL TRIGGER A GEOLOGICAL EVENT!"

Then one of the female campers broke down a little. Tears formed in her eyes. Nobody had insulted her like that before. She was a daughter of Aphrodite.

Achilles continued on as if nothing ever happened. "YOU ALL REEK OF POVERTY AND PROSTITUTION! EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE IS A STUNNING ENDORSEMENT OF ABORTION! YOU SHIT STAINS ARE A COLLECTIVE MASTERPIECE OF FAILURE! YOU COCK-GOBLINS CIRCLE JERK EACH OTHER TO EXHAUSTION EVERY NIGHT!"

Chiron's eyes widened slightly."Isn't that enough, Jason?"

Jason stood beside him. "He's on a roll now. Gotta wait till he's done."

Malcolm's eye twitched. The son of Athena glared at Achilles, who ignored him and continued.

"YOU SIGNED UP TO GET POUNDED BY MONSTERS AND PROBABLY CRIED LIKE SISSIES WHEN YOU REALIZED THEY DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE DICKS! YOUR SENSITIVE PUSSIES CRIED SO MANY TEARS YOU COULD FLOAT AWAY ON A RIVER OF DOUCHE CANOES!"

Some campers looked down, not with shame, but with fiery determination. They'd prove him wrong!

"YOU GLITTER-TOWN COCK-WRANGLING FAIRY-TINKLE FAG-PUFFIN FUCK NUGGETS ARE GONNA GET YOUR COLLECTIVE ANAL CAVITIES STRETCHED SO FAR APART YOU'LL THINK YOU'RE GETTING DOUBLE FISTED BY TYPHON HIMSELF!"

"Damn he's good.", Clarisse muttered, impressed by the extreme wide array of insults. Even Ares wouldn't be able to say this. And the god of war was hard.

"I WILL REORGANIZE THE FAILURE THAT IS YOUR LIVES! I WILL FUCK-START YOUR SOULS! I'LL MAKE YOU MONGOLOID ROCK-CHOPPING THUNDER CUNTS SCREAM HARDER THAN YOUR MOTHERS AFTER HER FOURTH FAILED COAT HANGER ABORTION!"

At this point, most campers who had parental issues, which was all of them, glared at the son of Thetis, which of course only made him scream at them even more.

"I'M GONNA CHOP OFF YOUR SHRIVELLED BALLS, PUT THEM WHERE YOUR EYES SHOULD BE, PUT A SOMBRERO ON YOUR HEAD, AND BEAT YOU LIKE A PINATA! HELL I'LL MAKE YOU SHIT SO MANY BRICKS YOU'LL PUT THE MEXICANS OUT OF BUSINESS! BUT FEAR NOT, BECAUSE IN THREE MONTHS, I WILL TURN YOU COCK-MONARCHS INTO FUCK-MASTERS OF GALACTIC DESTRUCTION!"

"YEEEAAAHH!", the campers cheered. The speech, although very abusive, did it's job. The campers turned from timid to angry, and their faces held fiery determination. They would work harder than ever to overcome anything, and they would become fuck-masters of galactic destruction.

Chiron chuckled upon seeing the fired up demigods. "Well ... that was ... motivational."

Jason laughed beside him. "You can trust Achilles to train them Chiron. Don't worry. I pity any bastard who dares attack these kids now."

* * *

( _Nidavellir_ )

When Zoe opened her eyes, the first thing she did was stretch her limbs out and lay on the wall behind her. 'Wait.', she thought. 'Limbs?' Wasn't she a sword?

"Ah! She's awake!", a voice said.

Zoe turned, thinking it was Perseus who said that. The huntress frowned upon seeing him. Something was off. Yes, he did mostly look like Perseus but there were a few tiny differences, and some glaring differences. Firstly, his hair and eyes were totally off. It was as if someone took Percy and washed his hair with pure silver and bleach. It was a silvery-white colour that shone in the dim light of her room/cell. Next were his eyes. Zoe was used to seeing his usual sea-green, but this was the polar opposite. Ruby red eyes stared at her, though for some reason, she could still feel herself being drawn towards them, like the ocean currents dragging someone nearer. A red ocean, but an ocean nonetheless.

"Percy? What did you do with your hair? And are those contacts?"

The person whom she thought was Percy chuckled. "Percy? ... Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while. Quite a while.", he said, staring off into the distance. Suddenly, his red eyes glowed for moment, startling Zoe. He turned his attention fully towards her. "Don't ever call me by that name again.", he warned. "I am not Perseus."

Zoe's eyes narrowed. An impostor. She backed up against the walls and protected herself. "T-Then who are you?!", she demanded. "And where is Percy?!"

"Percy is ... nearby.", he said. "I am Darkstorm."

Zoe's eyes widened. "You're him!"

Darkstorm nodded. "Hmm... Yes I am. I'm the big bad who stole your mistress away from you."

"WHERE IS LADY ARTEMIS?!", Zoe screamed at him, standing up.

Darkstorm stared at her, his eyes narrowing. The huntress barely registered a red glow in his eyes before he vanished from the spot. She gasped and looked around but could see nothing. Suddenly, she felt a tremendous force on her neck. Five fingers and a palm clamped around it and she was lifted off the ground and backwards.

Zoe wanted to cry out in pain when her head and body smashed through the wall, but Darkstorm's hand was held too tight over her neck. She couldn't even breathe properly. She looked down and struggled. She couldn't see the bottom. Just clouds. They were too high up. She'd never survive the drop even if she made him let go.

" _Lady Artemis_ ", he said, mocking her name as he did. "is gone. She's dead.", he said nonchalantly, as if what he said was of no impact at all to anybody.

"No!", Zoe croaked out. "Y-You're lying!"

Darkstorm laughed, sending shivers down Zoe's spine as his laugh was in sync with the thunderclouds below them. "That is not what I meant, Zoe Nightshade. Yes, she is alive ... but the Artemis you knew is gone. She has become a better version of herself."

He roughly threw her back inside the cell, and it was only then that she noticed that the cell lights turned on. There was a bed. Like a hospital bed. The sheets were pure white and in it rested a patient, whose face Zoe could not see. Immediately the huntress rushed to the bed. "Percy?", she asked hesitantly, only to receive no reply. The demigod had been completely knocked out.

Darkstorm walked towards the bed. "It's taken a lot out of him.", he murmured. "Unlike carrying the sky, climbing the Yggrasil is not a feat of strength, but of courage and willpower. Even a pure-blooded human can climb the World Tree, if they want to. If they have the willpower to do so. Perseus has. He's one of the only few people who can do it.". The way Darkstorm spoke now confused Zoe. There wasn't a hint of malice in his tone. He was praising Percy. A stark contrast to when Percy first met him.

Zoe gulped, choosing to stare at Percy instead. She could see why her mistress would sometimes drone on and on about him, driving some of the hunters mad sometimes. He truly was a special person. One of a kind. The kind of person who appears once in a generation. Maybe even rarer. But lately he had been going down a dark path. It wasn't so obvious to others, but Zoe noticed it in the beginning, during the quest to save Artemis, and even later. She had seen his fight with Kampe as well. This Percy wasn't like before. He was more brutal, more angry. Angry, that was it. He seemed to be always angry at either Kronos or Darkstorm or Hyperion or even Zeus sometimes. He blamed Zeus for not taking care of his daughter better. For Percy's own sake, Zoe hoped he would never actually say that in Zeus's face. But knowing him, he just might.

Artemis's captivity had taken a toll on the hunters, who were now stationed in Camp Half-Blood for almost six months, or so Percy told her. But never before did Zoe realize just how much of a toll it had taken on Perseus. He seemed to be focused on one thing only, finding Artemis, and while Zoe knew that was a good thing, she couldn't help but see the effect it had on him. Climbing the Yggdrasil for instance. There was no need for him to push himself so much. He could have dropped, and easily survived. Hell, anyone, any god, any titan would have dropped to the ground below. But Percy still climbed, even when Zoe visibly heard his bones creaking and his muscles tearing. She had begged him to stop, but he continued. For Artemis.

And this was the result. He was bedridden and seemed to be unconscious. His whole body was raw and red, and she could see the stiffness in his sleep. For lack of a better term, his muscles were completely fucked.

Darkstorm's right hand travelled over Percy's whole body. His palm emitted an orange light as he did. Wherever the orange light touched, Zoe could see the stiffness in Percy's body reduce and the rawness in his skin reduce until it returned to it's normal tanned colour. The demigod even let out a contented sigh, as if a large pain had suddenly vanished from his body.

Zoe frowned. "Why are you healing him? In fact, you could have killed us. Why didn't you?"

Darkstorm's eyes narrowed. "Kill you? That will be done soon. But killing Perseus? I can't."

"What do you mean?"

Darkstorm smiled. "The fates work in mysterious ways. If I kill Percy, a paradox will be formed."

Zoe frowned. "How?"

"Tell me Zoe, what do you think would happen if you went back in time and tried to kill yourself?"

Zoe frowned. "How? If I kill myself then it won't make sense because then how would I come back in time to kill myself if I'm already dead in the past?"

"Exactly my point.", Darkstorm said.

The wind stopped. Nobody made a noise. Zoe's throat constricted and she almost choked on her own words. Her heart dropped to the bottom of her chest and her eyes were wide. She gulped, her heart rate rapidly rising as she turned to look at the sleeping form of Percy, and then to Darkstorm. She couldn't believe it. It was impossible. It had to be. Darkstorm had to be lying.

"N-No! You're lying!", she exclaimed. Her mind couldn't handle it. The revelation was just too much. "NO! LIAR!", she screamed.

Darkstorm only chuckled more. He was amused. Very amused. "I am not. That is the only reason Perseus is still alive."

"LIAR!", Zoe screamed again. "IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

Darkstorm laughed. "Tell me, Nightshade, what do you remember seeing just before you died? Don't you remember seeing me stab Perseus in the heart with a piece of the sarcophagus of Kronos? I hope you understand now the implications of what I did."

Zoe stared at Darkstorm fearfully, seeing him in a new light. "Y-You", she pointed. "Y-You."

Darkstorm smile grew wider. "Yes. That was when I gave myself the ability to travel through time. Perseus can't use it yet, but give it time. Not long from now he will unlock his full power."

Tears ran down Zoe's face. She almost never cried. The only other time she cried was when she was dying. She couldn't bear to see the look on Artemis's face. Even if that was a fake version of Artemis at the time. But now ... she felt her sanity slipping. It was too much for her to handle. Out of all the possibilities, this was the one she never even remotely considered, and it shocked her to the core. Her body trembled as she kept looking back and forth.

Darkstorm stared at Zoe, and he snapped his fingers. Then something happened which shattered Zoe's sanity even more than it already had. Slowly, she could see Darkstorm's appearance changing. His silver white hair turned darker before it became raven black in colour. Then his ruby red eyes slowly turned into sea green. The same colour it had been on Orthrys during the quest. There was no question about it now. This was definitely Percy. He was identical to the demigod on the bed in every single way possible.

Zoe choked on her own words again. "P-Percy?"

Darkstorm, or the future Perseus smiled. "Hello Zoe. It's been a long time."

More tears fell from her eyes, wetting her face completely. "WHY?!", she shouted.

Briefly, Darkstorm glanced at his younger self. "Many reasons. But mainly because I can. And because I feel like it."

Zoe had a dumbfounded look on her face.

Darkstorm laughed voraciously. "What? Did you expect me to say that the gods cast me into Tartarus or something like that? No. The gods didn't cast me out, and truth to be told, I don't have anything against most of the gods. It's just ... they're in my way. Plus they're lame."

There was no reply from Zoe. By now she was completely out of it. She was blank. The shock had gotten to her. Darkstorm shrugged. "Wow. Didn't expect that."

He walked to her, and lifted her by her throat. "I'd let you live Zoe. I really would. But you see, I can't have Perseus learning about the truth just yet. He needs to unlock his power first. This is nothing personal. You're just a hindrance.".

With that, Darkstorm raised his hand at his once friend, and vibrated it. Suddenly, the hand shot forward at the huntress's chest, and she looked at Darkstorm with the saddest expression, and even Darkstorm cracked for a moment. "Forgive me Zoe, but to me you've been dead for centuries."

* * *

( _Somewhere On Earth_ )

A black pegasus was enjoying his glazed donuts at the Monster Inc. shop. A shop where are mythical beings can eat in peace without having to look at mortals.

This particular pegasus spit out it's entire donut. "WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST READ?!"

To others it was a loud and surprised neigh. Blackjack the pegasus took off to the air. "I need to tell the camp and the gods!"

But suddenly, a loud voice could be heard by the pegasus. And only the pegasus. For some reason nobody else heard the voice. " **NO!** "

The pegasus stopped. "Wha? Who is this?", he neighed.

" **I AM THE AUTHOR! IF YOU DARE SPOIL THE STORY, THEN I WILL GO ON A HIATUS!** "

Blackjack whimpered. "Please no. I won't tell anyone."

" **GOOD! NOW GO AND EAT DONUTS UNTIL THE PLOT NEEDS YOU!** "

* * *

 **A/N: So, cat's out of the bag it seems. Though I sincerely hope at least some of you guys already figured it out, because lately I've been dropping hints about Darkstorm's identity like bombs. There were so many instances where I mentioned he's from the future. It was only a matter of time.**

 **And yeah, Zoe's gone. For good this time. There's a reason behind it, don't worry. Plus, I'm not usually in the habit of bringing back dead characters. I killed her off again so that Percy gets that extra motivation in his next fight against Darkstorm.**

 **Also, I had that Blackjack scene in the last so that I can explain why Blackjack doesn't tell anyone. You'd think that 'Hey, Blackjack can break the fourth wall! Why not expose all the villain plans?' Yep, not gonna happen. I don't need a walking/galloping/flying deus ex machina.**

 **P.S - Achilles is on a roll! That dude went nuclear! HAHA! I can't believe the number of times I just kept re reading that section and laughing to myself!**

 **P.P.S - How'd you feel about Darkstorm's motivations? It's not the truth obviously, but he is insane.**

 **I hope no one got offended by Achilles's rant. I have nothing against Mexicans or gay people, ok?  
**


	24. Tir na Lia

**A/N: Hy everyone. Before you begin, I'd like to announce that I finally have a beta reader. Ackner is his name!**

* * *

 _Previously on Immortal Warrior,_

 _He walked to her, and lifted her by her throat. "I'd let you live Zoe. I really would. But you see, I can't have Perseus learning about the truth just yet. He needs to unlock his power first. This is nothing personal. You're just a hindrance."._

 _With that, Darkstorm raised his hand at his once friend, and vibrated it. Suddenly, the hand shot forward at the huntress's chest, and she looked at Darkstorm with the saddest expression, and even Darkstorm cracked for a moment. "Forgive me Zoe, but to me you've been dead for centuries."_

* * *

( _The Far Future, Million Miles From Earth's Atmosphere_ )

It was the month of August, in the far future. Unknown date. Earth was gone. Yes, gone. The planet was still there, and if one went there, they would see the barren life.

Earth was once the biggest hotspot for godly activity. There used to be numerous pantheons of gods and angels staying there, protecting the Earth from all kinds of dangers.

One such danger was the titan Kronos. However, the titan wasn't the only danger there. They had thought wrong. Kronos was being helped by a being named Darkstorm. A being that no one took seriously at first since he was just a mortal. A half-blood.

They were so wrong. They paid the ultimate price. In a fit of rage, Darkstorm obliterated the entire planet. However, the planet didn't explode into a million pieces like it should have, since it was no ordinary planet. It was Gaia. The surface of the Earth was washed off, like water through a dirty pipe. Billions of mortals died at once. Immortals as well. Olympus, Orthrys, the Heavens, everything. All of it destroyed in one fell swoop. Only a barren wasteland remained.

But now, someone else challenged Darkstorm.

The silver haired demigod ducked and flew to the side as an enormous blue beam of energy cut through the space between them and came hurtling at him with impossible speeds. He stared at the person responsible for them. Sea green eyes, windswept raven hair.

"PERSEUS!", he roared and shot forward.

Perseus did the same, and the two met in a large clash. Both summoned their respective weapons as they clashed. The weapons struck each other, and one could only wonder how the weapons didn't get destroyed. A silent shockwave was released from their clash, but don't let it fool you. Once the spherical wall of force hit the Earth, the whole planet was pushed out of orbit, spinning away at dangerous speeds.

Perseus and Darkstorm attacked each other again, but this time with a much larger force. Their blows were like supernovas, releasing dangerous amounts of energy every time they clashed. Had there been another planet nearby, it would have been shredded to bits. As it was, the moon orbiting the Earth did shatter to pieces.

Neither demigod paid any attention, only focused on the person in front of them. They fought for ages, neither of them getting the upper hand. Their blows were always countered by the other, and both of them seemed to know what the other was going to do.

Circular spheres of force emitted from their strikes as they hit each other again and again. Their devastating energy beams shot at each other did not affect them, but only served to further destroy the planets around them.

Suddenly, the raven haired demigod had a wild look in his eyes and left his sword.

Darkstorm frowned. "What are you doing?"

Smirking, Perseus suddenly rushed forward with blinding speeds. The particles seemed to stretch around him and he no longer saw any colour but blue.

Blue is the colour emitted by tachyonic particles. These particles are imaginary to most mortals, but Perseus knew better. Tachyons were particles that broke physics completely. They had negative mass first of all and moved millions of times faster than the average light particle. When a being moves faster than light, how are they able to see? The answer to that is Tachyons.

Darkstorm saw Perseus coming at him, but only barely. He barely had time to wonder why Perseus would commit such a brazen move, when suddenly Perseus crashed into him with a mighty force, creating a gigantic shockwave that would destroy all the planets in the solar system.

Darkstorm spit out a little blood at the force, and growled, but he could do nothing but hang on as Perseus dragged him through space. It was only two seconds later that Darkstorm realized what Perseus was trying to do, but it was too late. He felt something warm behind him, and suddenly started to struggle, but the raven haired man didn't give up.

Perseus pushed through, and within three seconds, he had taken Darkstorm from what was left of the earth's atmosphere all the way to the surface of the sun.

The first thing that Perseus noticed when he got into the sun's atmosphere was obviously the heat, but it was also the noise. It was so loud. Like a billion nuclear bombs going off simultaneously. The sound was constant, and frankly annoying for Percy. He had sensitive hearing being a demigod, and this wasn't helping.

"AAARGGHH!", Darkstorm yelled, and even through all the noise, Percy heard him.

Perseus's body felt hot, like as if he was being microwaved, but he managed to fly towards Darkstorm, and used his disorientation to deliver a thundering punch to Darkstorm's face. A loud sound like the crack of thunder swept through the area, and the resulting shockwave pushed apart the orangish yellow explosions.

If one were to look at the sun at this point, they would see nothing wrong. But if they saw it eight minutes later, they would see a large black patch in the sun, like as if that part of the sun had been 'turned off'.

Back on the surface of the sun, Perseus and Darkstorm exchanged blows which blew away the hot air and even stopped the noise for a second. Darkstorm's face bled a little.

Darkstorm then stared at Perseus. "THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD!"

Without even thinking of the consequences, the silver haired demigod snatched Percy and did the one thing no one else would have done.

He dove downward.

Yes, you read right.

Percy's body felt hot at first, but now that they were going deeper into the sun, the heat increased exponentially, and he felt his skin grow a bright red from the heat.

From the looks, even Darkstorm was having trouble keeping it up.

Finally, they reached the centre of the sun, and the heat was unbearable. The pain was worse than anything Percy had ever gone through in his entire life. It was simply too much. The core temperature of the sun was calculated to be about fifteen million degrees, and it sure as hell burned like that.

Both demigods looked at each other before their eyes narrowed and they did anything and everything to make each other suffer.

Finally, the silver haired man had it. He raised his hand in the molten liquid of the star. It was a wonder how he could even see it in the thick, viscous form of Hydrogen, but he managed it.

His eyes glowed a bright red so intense that even Percy could see it, despite them both being in the core of a yellow star. Perseus tried to move towards him but it was tough. The heat and the pain was too much. Still, he got there and clamped his hands around Darkstorm's throat.

Darkstorm knew what Percy was trying to do. 'I go down, you go down with me.'

Darkstorm's eyes glowed even more at that. "Fine by me.", he said, although Percy couldn't hear it over the noise.

The resulting catastrophe was devastating to anything even within light years of radius. You couldn't just call it an explosion. It was more than that. Imagine the explosion of a Hydrogen bomb. Now imagine the hydrogen bomb had a mass equal to 2000000000000000000000000000000 kilograms. And imagine that bomb exploded. That is what the explosion was like. A supernova that obliterated each and everything in it's path, leaving nothing in it's wake.

The Earth however, was not destroyed. Gaia being a primordial being wouldn't be hurt by such small pricks to her skin. Primordial beings were more powerful than anything and everything. A simple supernova wouldn't harm them. The elder primordials that is. Only the children of Chaos were so powerful.

Perseus and Darkstorm had been carried away from each other due to the waves of force slamming into them. Surprisingly, their bodies did not in fact disintegrate. It seems they were stronger than that.

When the catastrophic event ended, no one knew how much time passed. It might have been centuries, but who really knew?

* * *

(Nidavellir, Present Day)

The huntress gasped, choking on her own blood. Darkstorm, no. Perseus had harmed her. She couldn't believe it. She had known him for more than two thousand years, and yet she stood still and watched in shock as his vibrating hand went through her chest. Although, his hand never actually made contact with her skin. His palm phased through her chest, like as if it were Celestial Bronze passing through a mortal.

But once inside, his hand stopped vibrating and she felt a sudden sharp pain in the left of her chest, below her breast. The pain was intense, but short. Her heart had been burst into a million pieces within her body.

Darkstorm laid the huntress down, setting her upon the floor gently. She looked into her once best friend's eyes with a heartbroken expression. "It's a shame, you know?", Darkstorm murmured. "None of this was your fault. You are the one person innocent in all of this."

Zoe's head lay on the ground, gasping for air as the blood seeped out of her mouth in spurts. "T-T-Then ... w-why?", she managed to croak out.

"I told you Zoe. This is nothing personal."

He stared at the huntress with a pitiful gaze. "I hold no ill will against you, my friend. Your sacrifice will not go in vain. Once I destroy Olympus and Orthrys,", Darkstorm said, pausing.

Zoe's eyes widened even as she was dying. Orthrys? Why? In her final moments, her image of the man before her changed, before she finally realized his true goal. "Y-You will?"

Darkstorm smiled. "You understand me now? Gods and titans. Deities of all types and forms. Most of them are useless. A hindrance to the universe. The universe will be better off without them."

The huntress didn't reply. She tried to say his name again, but to no avail. She was out of time. "P-Pe-", were the only sounds that came out of her mouth. And then the silver glow around her body faded and her eyes stared off into the distance. Zoe Nightshade was dead.

Darkstorm stared at her body for a while. "Good bye, Zoe Nightshade. I promise you, that when I retake this universe, I will dedicate an entire galaxy to you. You will live amongst the stars, as a legend."

He stood up from the ground, and held his palm towards the dead huntress. "Efallai eich bod yn byw ymhlith y sêr unwaith eto.", Darkstorm chanted. His palm glowed brighter, and a white light emitted from it, striking the huntress. Once it was over, he watched as her body slowly crumbled into dust. Not the golden dust left behind by monsters and deities, but a fine white dust, like sand, but brighter. The dust was swept across the room by an invisible wind, carrying it to the skies above.

Darkstorm sighed, and stood there for a moment, before he seemed to compose himself. As he walked back towards where Percy slept, his eyes turned red again, and his raven hair became silver-white. "Percy, Percy, Percy.", he chided. "Look at the mess you've made."

It wasn't quite clear whom Darkstorm was talking to. To the Perseus sleeping on the bed, unconscious, or to himself.

"You want to know something, Perseus?", Darkstorm asked to the unconscious demigod. Naturally, he received no answer. "The real reason I travelled through time was to kill the gods and the titans in one fell swoop. I travelled back all the way, millions of years before today. To the first Titanomachy ... and do you know why I did it?"

The sleeping form of Perseus naturally didn't answer. But his older, future self still continued talking. "For you. I hate you. I wanted to kill you so badly, I never considered the circumstances. I couldn't find my mother. She vanished. Nowhere to be found. And I don't know where I was born. So I did the next best thing. I decided to kill my father. I thought if I killed him, you'd never be born. I thought I would be exempt from the rules since I have Kronos's domains. In the future, I took his powers, I knew. I knew that if I tried to kill my father, a paradox would be formed. But I thought I could do it. I thought that being the Lord of Time exempted me from such paradoxes."

Darkstorm then laughed mirthlessly. "I was wrong. I quickly realized it wasn't possible. How can Poseidon's son kill Poseidon if Poseidon never lives to birth a son?"

"We're enemies. Rivals. Opposites. And yet we're one and the same. The universe in perfect balance, with you ruling one half, and me the other. That's how it was. That's how it's always been, until I travelled back in time. Now ..."

It was then that Darkstorm looked at Perseus's sleeping face properly. "Look at you.", he said, chuckling at himself, shaking his head slightly. "You look so young.".

Darkstorm walked right beside his younger self and held his right hand above his chest. A flash of light later, a dagger appeared in his hand. "And I could kill you right now, ... ", he murmured, "so easily.". The knife moved closer to Perseus's chest, the tip of the blade poking the skin, but Darkstorm sighed and lifted his hand, the dagger vanishing.

"What I wouldn't have given, in the future, to have you like this. So ... helpless."

Darkstorm's eyes glowed with anger. "And yet, I can do nothing! NOTHING! I cannot harm you, because that is how the FUCKING FATES set up the rules! THEY STOPPED ME FROM BEING ABLE TO TIME TRAVEL! … But I will find a way, Perseus. Believe me. And when I do, you better hope Chaos itself is guarding you, because I will tear through anything to kill you. No … I will vaporize you and send your molecules scattering across the universe!"

Darkstorm sighed after his big outburst. At his own predicament. "It's ironic isn't it?", he asked himself. "I travel back to destroy you, and now to get what I want, I have to be the one who creates you."

He walked over to the tubes pumping nectar into the demigod's body, and turned a valve, decreasing the amount of nectar going into Perseus's bloodstream. "But I will say, it's been an education, watching you grow up all these years. You doing scientific research and demigod quests. No hint. No sign. No trace of the man you would be one day.". Darkstorm turned back to Percy. "For whom I have nothing but hate."

He walked closer to Percy, glaring at the demigod with hatred in his eyes now. Red wisps of energy escaped from his eyes and the nectar in the containment started to shake due to Darkstorm's rage. "And to be clear, nothing is forgiven. You will be eradicated ... I promise you Perseus, that you will die."

The anger was unmistakable. His eyes held untold fury for the demigod before him. For his past self. The one who would cause him so much trouble in the future. When all the gods and all the titans were dead. When all the angels were dead. Only Perseus remained. He, and his rival. They fought each other in the void of space for centuries. Millennia. Most of the galaxies were destroyed, and only a handful of mortals remained in remote planets at the far corners of the universe. Only he, his rival, and Chaos watching them from above.

Darkstorm suddenly stopped looking at Perseus and walked off. He exited the cell, and found a short, bearded guard there. He was a dwarf. They were the residents of Nidavellir. He frowned at the dwarf. "When he is recovered, take him to Eitri. Have Eitri forge him a weapon."

The dwarf frowned. "Which weapon, my lord?"

"Eitri will know which one. Now do what I say ... and let no one else in."

Darkstorm walked by the guards and exited the building. It was an enormously large spiral tower which led upwards beyond the clouds. He glanced at the tower and marvelled at it's magnificence. "Ah.', he sighed. "The wonders of dwarven architecture. Maybe I'll hire some of them for back home.", he mused.

Darkstorm then shook his head. "Maybe later.", he muttered. He walked away, and soon, he found himself face to face with Nox, his right hand and Ida, also known as the woman who managed to impersonate Artemis. Even Darkstorm was impressed with her ability to manipulate concealment magic like that, and he made a note to keep a close eye on her.

He looked at Nox. "Take us back to Krypton. It's time to gather our forces. Once Perseus receives his weapon and leaves Nidavellir, we will occupy the fortress. I have spoken with the dwarves. They have no use of it. All they wish for is a place by our side within the fortress."

Nox frowned under his helmet. "Are you sure?"

Darkstorm laughed. "Maen nhw'n dwarves Nox. Rhowch rywbeth iddynt adeiladu neu arf i grefft a byddant yn hapus. Nid ydynt yn poeni pwy sy'n rhestru. Mae angen i ni ond adael iddynt wneud eu gwaith." [They are dwarves Nox. Give them something to build or a weapon to craft and they'll be happy. They don't care who rules. We just need to let them do their work.]

"Wyt ti'n siwr?" [If you say so.]

Nox nodded. "Alright. You may want to hold on to my staff. I will open a portal to Tir Na Lia."

Darkstorm nodded. "Let's go."

Darkstorm and Ida held Nox's staff just beneath Nox's hand. The right hand of Darkstorm lifted his staff a few inches above the ground before thudding it downwards, creating a reverberating sound. The sound was an echo for miles on end.

The air rippled in front of them, and with a loud pop, a swirling circle of blue and black appeared in the air in front of them.

The three beings walked one by one into the portal, with Darkstorm going in last. Just before leaving, a loud sound like thunder reverberated across the skies of Nidavellir, and the spiral tower behind him collapsed.

Darkstorm chuckled. "Looks like Perseus has awoken.", he said, before going into the portal. The portal closed up, and just like that, the three beings vanished from the face of Nidavellir, not a trace of them to be found.

* * *

( _Camp Half-Blood_ )

Chiron sat near the archery range, waiting for Achilles to give the order to the hunters. Yes. Chiron was going to be teaching the hunters, but first Achilles and Jason were to teach them close quarters combat, which they sucked at. They preferred to be taught separately from the other campers, and surprisingly, Jason and Achilles agreed, even if they were just being considerate because their mistress was missing.

"ATTENTION!", Achilles yelled.

The hunters stood in a relaxed position, with their bows in their arms and their quivers attached to their back.

Chiron noticed that they hadn't stood straight like Achilles had wanted them to. Jason cleared his throat beside Chiron. "Uh oh. Achilles hates it when orders aren't followed. They're gonna get it now."

The son of Thetis glared at them. "WHEN I SAY ATTENTION, I WANT TO HEAR TWENTY CUNTS SLAPPING SHUT!", he shouted.

Most of the younger hunters immediately stood straight, while the older ones glared at Achilles before doing the same.

Chiron's eyes widened. "Wow. They listened."

Jason nodded. "Of course. He doesn't care that they are Artemis's hunters. To him, they're soldiers who need to follow orders. If they don't ... well, you know what happens in any army when you don't follow orders."

"Now.", Achilles said in a lower voice. "I want you all to take out your weapon of choice, except for a bow."

The hunters took out their weapons of choice. Phoebe, who was the new lieutenant of Artemis after Zoe died used a spear. She was the daughter of Ares. Even though she was called lieutenant, it was an honorary position chosen by the other hunters. Only Artemis could choose a lieutenant, and the one who chose Phoebe at the time turned out to be an impostor, not the real Artemis.

The legendary huntress Atlanta used two hunting knives, very similar to the hunting knives used by Artemis herself. A blonde demigoddess. Daughter of Apollo and one of the famous argonauts. Jason cracked a smile at her when he saw her, causing the latter to do the same.

The other hunters too took out their own respective weapons. Mostly either hunting knives or swords. One particular huntress by the name of Kylie even had an axe. She was a daughter of Bellona, a roman goddess of war.

Achilles sighed. "Now attack me."

The hunters frowned. "What?", Phoebe asked.

The son of Thetis sighed, and held out his hand. The air shimmered and a wickedly sharp Celestial Bronze blade appeared in his hand. Nothing ordinary, if you discount the fact that Hephaestus personally sharpened the blade.

Chiron's eyebrows raised. "That's good quality."

"Good?", Jason snorted. "Percy once joked that it could carve off an electron from an atom. Not sure if it's true, but whatever."

The hunters took a deep breath and looked at each other.

"No no.", Achilles said. "All of you at once. Whoever manages to land even a single scratch wins."

Atlanta stepped forward. "What if we just disarm you?"

Achilles laughed. "What a wiseass you are! You can't disarm me."

"Why not?"

"You just can't. I'm out of your league."

At this, the hunters shouted in unison and charged forward, wanting to land a hit on him at all costs. They were irritated by his demeanor already and the way he ordered them to attention. This wasn't training for them. This was real. Some of them really wanted to murder him for that comment.

Of course, that is easier said than done. Apart from Perseus, Achilles was the single most experienced and skilled swordsman to ever live. His skill, speed and strength outmatched them by so far that it wasn't even funny to compare them.

The son of Thetis was a whirlwind, and yet Jason knew he was holding back a lot. Achilles could have murdered the entire lot of them in less than ten seconds, and he still wouldn't have broken a sweat. It was a wonder what the curse of the Styx could do to a demigod. It wasn't as simple as making his skin invulnerable. Far from it. His senses were heightened to a point where only children of the Big Three could match him. His strength and speed were increased to godly levels, making him a threat even to gods like Zeus and Poseidon. Nothing could hurt him. Absolutely nothing, Master Bolt included. Unless his weak spot was hurt. And it definitely wasn't the heel. Jason wondered which idiot came up with that idea.

Thetis never held him by the heel and dipped him in the Styx. In fact, Achilles never met his mother. He took a dip in the Styx later, for reasons unknown to even Jason or Perseus.

Chiron continued to watch as Achilles decimated the hunters, crushing them and their egos as well. Phoebe rushed at him with her spear, and in the blink of an eye, the spear was batted aside by the back of his left palm with a minimal amount of force for him. But that little motion sent the spear sailing from her grasp and to the other end of the archery grounds. Achilles then brutally kicked her in the gut, sending the daughter of Mars flying ten metres away.

Another huntress attacked from behind, hoping to catch him off-guard. Keyword: She was _hoping_ to catch him off guard. She didn't even have a chance as the invulnerable demigod turned around before she got too close and with a single swing of his sword he whacked her sword out of her hand, sending the weapon flailing towards Phoebe, who luckily caught it on time and charged forward with her new weapon.

Achilles smirked at Phoebe and feinted to the right. The huntress moved her sword to block it before realizing her grave error. The son of Thetis suddenly ducked and moved his sword downward and towards her right foot. Using the flat of his blade, he struck her with such a force that she was suspended into the air horizontally. Before she could react, he brought down his fist onto her face, sending her crashing to the ground unceremoniously.

The archery ground shook a little and Chiron was a little worried, until he remembered she was a daughter of Mars and she would be just fine. Knocked out and a broken jaw, but fine.

A dagger flew threw the air towards Achilles from behind, and he didn't even bother looking as he merely raised his left arm and put it behind his head, catching the dagger by the hilt.

When he did turn around, he saw a fuming Atlanta, who held her remaining knife and stalked towards him. Her face, ribs and ego were bruised and she staggered as she walked. Her ankle was still on fire with pain when he had kicked her there.

She glared at him and charged. Chiron smiled a little. Finally, a one on one battle. However, the centaur was both impressed and disappointed at the same time. Achilles merely sidestepped her front jab and brutally lifted his leg and kneed her in the gut, making her spit blood. He then grabbed her by the neck and flung her aside like yesterday's trash.

It was finally over. All of the hunters were down. And not even one managed to land a single hit. Not a scratch. Not even a graze. Not even a fist to the face or a kick to the side. Nothing. It was like as if The Flash decided to have a sparring contest with humans, except that Achilles didn't use his full speed.

"H-How? W-What happened?", Phoebe groaned from the ground, slowly regaining her consciousness.

Jason smirked a little. "You got your asses whooped is what happened. Now rest up a bit. Have some ambrosia and nectar. You're getting a ten minute break to heal all your bones, then we're gonna start with the basics. Sound good?"

The hunters nodded tiredly, to exhausted and humiliated to argue.

Chiron frowned. "But why? You knew they couldn't beat him, so why?"

Jason smiled. "Because now they will listen to him. Now they know just how far behind they are. If these were the campers, I guarantee at least one of them would have gotten a hit in. Hunters just can't do close quarters. They need to learn."

* * *

( _Krypton_ )

A swirling blue and black portal suddenly opened in a barren plain. A plain of bones and dust. The very same plain which Darkstorm had shown to Bianca di Angelo in a vision. This time though, he was really there. The sand was white, and there wasn't a drop of water anywhere to be found.

Large animal bones littered the landscape, many times bigger than people. Ranging from twenty feet to hundreds of feet in height and width, one could only imagine the type of creatures they were when they lived. They were the _dinosaurs_ of this world.

Darkstorm looked around. "Lift the illusion, Nox."

Nox nodded, and pointed his blue staff at nothing. He simply raised it to the air and pointed it in front of him. The staff let loose a torrent of dark blue energy, until it made contact with an invisible barrier. The blue energy wrapped itself around the barrier, before vanishing. And so did the barrier.

Darkstorm's breath was taken away. Despite ruling the place, and despite having created a lot of it by himself, even he was amazed by it's beauty and magnificence. It was a city. A very large city. The trio stood on a sand dune overlooking the city. It was the oddest mix you could ever see. From a distance, the whole city looked like it had been taken out straight from an Tolkien fantasy novel. The marble was pale yellow with flowery designs. The spiraling towers and the complex architecture mixed together so well.

There were tributaries of a river running down through some parts of the city, and large bridges were built over them. Some form of canoes seemed to travel through them, although the people didn't row it. Some boats went by themselves using an advanced technology, whereas some boats worked just by happy river naiads pushing them.

Darkstorm sighed contentedly. "Tir na Lia never fails to amaze me."

Nox scoffed. "You built it."

Darkstorm chuckled a little arrogantly. "Exactly my point."

Nox raised his staff, but Darkstorm waved him away. "No Nox. I haven't been here for a few months. Let us walk."

Ida raised an eyebrow. "Really Perseus?"

Darkstorm turned to her with an irritated expression. "Call me that again and you lose your head."

The latter gulped in fear before nodding. Darkstorm's attitude and mood seemed to shift like the wind. One moment, he could be a carefree person, joking and jovial. The next moment, he could become the personification of fear. In some cases, he could be carefree while being scary at the same time. For example, he would be jovial and happy when he mercilessly lopped off people's limbs.

However, sometimes, he could be irrationally lenient. For example, for the life of her, Ida could not understand why he was so lenient with the moon goddess Artemis. Having had her for months, and yet he didn't touch her in an inappropriate manner or hit her. Not once did he hit her. He left that to Ida.

Lost in her thoughts, she struggled to catch up with the other two.

Darkstorm walked by the citizens of Tir na Lia and nodded his head to them as they kept dropping to their knees and praising him to the high heavens. His past self would have asked them to stop bowing and kneeling, but Darkstorm was different. It's not that he enjoyed people bowing at his feet. Maybe a little, but he mainly had it done to keep respect. Every ruler needs to inspire a perfect balance of fear and respect. Have too much respect, and you could get backstabbed. Inspire too much fear, and the citizens will either revolt or the city will become dull and lifeless.

Which is why they didn't consider him their King. Most of the citizens considered him their god. After all, who else could do all of this?

Most of the citizens of Tir na Lia were members of the Golden Race. These were humanoids who lived during the age of the titans. They were taller, stronger, faster, smarter and generally much more better than the humans currently residing on Earth. Also, this race of people had an affinity with magic which simply didn't convert to other races. Even some gods.

Sure an average citizen of Tir na Lia couldn't do anything to a minor god or a demigod. But a soldier or a mage? Definitely. They had the ability to use magic in all it's forms. And they had Darkstorm to thank for that. He helped them throughout their journey to uncover their hidden magical abilities. Tir na Lia wasn't a city. It was THE city. The capital city of Krypton. After Darkstorm managed to recreate Krypton, this was the first city he had created. It was so beautiful because it wasn't just one aspect. It was a beautiful blend of architecture, technology and magic. The ultimate combination.

Soon, the trio reached the main palace. It was called the Palace of Awakening. It was the place from where Darkstorm ruled.

As they entered the palace, the two guards in front bowed and moved aside. They were dressed in black armour like the warriors of the Wild Hunt, however they did not have the skeletal look to them. Wouldn't want to scare ordinary folk by wearing an armour that looked like it was made of bones, right?

The guards tapped their spears to the ground once, and the magnificent pearl encrusted doors opened. It revealed a large long hall. A very lavish throne room whose floor was made of solid gold, or at least a metal that looked like it. Seems like a waste, but when you can use magic to transmute ordinary metal into precious metals, then you're not exactly wasting anything, except of course the time it takes to do it.

There were several thrones made of different metals, none of which can be found on the periodic table. Each and every throne was fit for a king, but at the end of the hall, there was another throne. The colour of the throne was completely different from the other thrones and the general atmosphere of the palace.

The throne was an odd mix of black and gold, yet somehow it looked regal. Golden steps led to the throne, and when Darkstorm sat on it, he was elevated to a height that put his feet higher than everyone else's head. This wasn't a throne for a king. It was a throne fit for a god.

Taking his seat, he motioned for Ida and Nox to do the same. Suddenly he frowned, noticing the absence of someone. "Where is Arianhydd?", he asked to no one in particular.

But a young man appeared, respectfully bowing. "My Lord.", he said. "She refuses to eat, drink or sleep. You need to feed her."

Darkstorm frowned. "What? Send her some ambrosia. She'll like that."

The man looked exasperated. "We did. She killed the last two men who tried to feed her and the other two have broken legs and teeth."

Darkstorm rubbed his temples. "Artemis ... really? ... Fine.", he muttered. "Take me to her."

The man nodded and bowed again before going to the small pathway behind the throne. Darkstorm stood up and followed him. They passed through several hallways before entering into the heart of the palace. The walls were slightly narrower than before, but was filled with all sorts of decorations like paintings, flower vases and armours.

Finally, they reached the end. Two huge double doors made of the same black metal as Darkstorm's armour was the entrance. Outside, there were two guards holding spears which crackled with blue energy once in a while. When they saw Darkstorm approaching, they bowed before stepping aside and tapping their spears to the ground at the same time.

Given the size of the doors, one would expect a loud noise as the doors opened, but instead, they moved fluidly, without making a sound. Once the doors opened, Darkstorm stepped inside, and looked behind to see the young man waiting. He waved him off. "Go.", he said.

He stared at the two guards for a full minute, before the two of them understood what he wanted. They hurriedly bowed and left, but still stood a safe distance from the chamber, guarding the entrance of the hallway.

Darkstorm turned back and took a step before the doors started to close on their own, sensing that the master of the palace was now at home. He walked towards a large lavish bed made of the finest wood in Tir na Lia. Four poles made of the same light-coloured wood rose from the corners and was supporting a loose silk cloth that acted as the roof of the bed.

On the bed was one of the most beautiful women one could have ever laid eyes upon. Her auburn hair was a loose mess as she lay on her back, staring at the silk ceiling above. She wore nothing but a loose silver silk cloth over her body, and her silvery-yellow eyes could capture anyone.

As Darkstorm got closer, the sound of his footsteps alerted the serene goddess, who proceeded to shoot up from her position. She stared at Darkstorm for a second with an indifferent attention before her pupils widened. "PERCY!", she shouted and bounded towards him, engulfing the silver haired man in a hug.

For the first time since arriving in Tir na Lia, a smile erupted on Darkstorm's face. "Hello Artemis."

She was different from the goddess she was. Her eyes were more yellow than silver and her pupils were slits, like a cat's or a wolf's. It gave her a certain wild charm that could only be found on someone like her. The goddess of the hunt. Her auburn hair was more reddish and her skin a little lighter in tone.

But that wasn't the biggest change. The goddess who normally looked like a flat-chested twelve year old had grown. She looked to be about twenty two or more and was taller. Almost as tall as Darkstorm himself. Her body was shapely, and it obviously didn't help that all she had to cover herself with was a silk sheet.

Darkstorm smirked at her. "My men tell me you're not eating."

Artemis laughed and jumped onto the bed. "You weren't there.", she pouted. "How can I eat?"

Darkstorm sighed. "Alright. But eat now at least. The separation from your other half has left you weak. You need to get better."

"Fine.", Artemis said, although she didn't look pleased about it. Suddenly, a playful smirk appeared on her face, and before Darkstorm could say anything, the silk sheet around her body dropped. It was a rare occurrence when Darkstorm was made speechless. Rare, because it almost never happened. But here he was, staring at her naked body like any other person.

His eyebrows raised. "If that's how you want to do it, then let me as well."

He walked over to her and climbed onto the bed. As he did, his clothes glowed briefly before vanishing, leaving him completely bare save for his briefs. Leaning against the backrest of the large bed, he pulled the goddess towards him. Naturally, she complied, choosing to use his body as a rock to rest upon.

With one arm snaked around her shoulders, he held her there before holding out his other palm. A brief pause, and then the air rippled. In his empty palm appeared a piece of ambrosia, the food of the gods. He brought the cube shaped food closer to her mouth, and held it there. When he thought she wouldn't open her mouth, he almost gave up, but she finally opened her mouth. He shoved the entire square inside quickly, before she could try anything else.

Artemis giggled, however her happiness didn't last. The goddess suddenly frowned, before she went limp in Darkstorm's arms. Her arms fell to the sides and her head rolled back, leaning on his shoulder.

Darkstorm set her onto the bed and stood up. "Rest, Arianhydd. You will need it.", he said softly.

Once he was sure the goddess was asleep, Darkstorm put two fingers to his temple. "Nox. Ira. I want you both in the throne room. We have much to discuss."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Reader (You guys): SAYETH WHAT?! WHY IS ARTEMIS ACTING LIKE THAT?!**

 **Author (Me): Fear not, it hath been done for a reason. If you would re read that scene, notice that Darkstorm wants her to eat because her 'separation from her other half has left her weak'. She isn't in her right mind, so that's why she's OOC. She will return her normal man-hating self later.**

 **Hey, while waiting for the next chapter, who can correctly guess where Artemis's other half is? Whoever guesses right gets a cookie!**


End file.
